Dear you
by Relentless-virus
Summary: Where are you now, what are you doing? Are you in this endless sky? It has been several years since Atem had finally passed on. People have grown up. A new threat lingers over Domino city; are they able to stop it?
1. The beginning

**If you were readers of my Hunter x Hunter series you may have noticed this has gone on indefinite hiatus. I greatly apologise for this; but I lost interest. If you read my previous notes you may have noted I suffer from mental illness and sadly at the time I was hoping to get back into the story I took a turn for the worse.**

 **I am better now. It's been hard I'll admit. I want to write again. I recently got back into Yu-Gi-Oh...which is probably why you clicked this on your phone or the website. I haven't written for a long time, and I'm excited.**

 **Please; bare with me as I get into the stride of things once more. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC.**

* * *

" _Do you always think we'll be like this?" The brunette haired boy asked the girl who closely resembled him, all apart from gender. The question grabbed her attention, making her shuffle herself slightly. She propped her elbows onto the floor and leaned her chin into her hands, knitting her brows together with a look of confusion and questioning. The book she had been reading seemingly now abandoned on the page she looked away from.  
_ " _Like what?" She couldn't help but ask. She was younger, she looked up to her brother for answers...why was he asking her questions? The question in her own voice was evident enough to show her confusion.  
_ " _...This?...Just the two of us?" He replied, never taking his eyes off the device in his hands. A small simple device, with nothing more coming from it than light. It reflected off his face, illuminating his eyes occasionally. There was so much question in those eyes. So much doubt...he carried so much in those eyes for his age. He's legs fidgeted slightly underneath her belly as she laid across them having made himself comfortable across his lap.  
_ " _...Why do you ask?" She pushed on. Of course, she always assumed it would be the two of them forever. How could it not? What could possibly separate them?  
_ " _We're growing up...we'll have our own things to do, jobs, family, kids...we won't be as close anymore." He went on, nodding his head slightly to the side occasionally as he spoke. The light from the device flashing more violently; he was in a fight. The younger girl knew he was playing a game now, the sudden tension in his hands on her back helped to indicate so.  
_ " _We're twins, we can't stay separated forever it'll be weird. Besides we're twelve. If we haven't parted by now it's just not happening." She explained to him, turning her face back to the book dismissing the idea of them ever parting. The boy sighed as his hands dropped slightly, the device now laying on her back. He leaned his head backwards, looking up to the ceiling. He was still deep in thought._

The rain struck harder against his skin as those memories played back in his mind. He teeth gritted and hands clenched tightly, his finger nails digging deep into his skin. He shivering but not from the cold or from the rain hitting his blue jacket or exposed skin.  
"Then why did you leave?" He questioned the stone that stood in front of him. It didn't answer back, he wasn't expecting it to. He wanted to kick it, break it, do anything in his power that would make him feel better about the situation; but he knew he'd feel regret if he did. Instead, he just stared at the grey stone, reading the name over and over again. "Naguchi Ito. Twelve. Loving sister and daughter. Gone but not forgotten, forever in our hearts." The incense sticks laid against the glass bottle edge, there was no use lightening them now the rain would just put them out quickly.

It had been five years now and the pain he felt still did not ease. He was certain nobody knew what it felt like. They were close. They were twins after all. They had their own language, their own way of knowing when the other didn't feel right. They knew everything about each other. And then with what seemed like an instant she was gone. She wasn't ill, in fact she was the healthy one out the two of them. It was him who was ill with the heart condition. So...why did she suddenly drop dead? No one knew why. One minute she was fine, they were talking to each other happily in the school caught yard and then the next she just collapsed. Gone. Just like that.

The rain continued to hit his head violently as it just got heavier. He had to leave. School was starting soon, it was his last year he needed to go. He needed to keep trying for the both of them...for him now. Turning on his heel, the boy left the grave sight. He needed to get away. He could spend all day there, questioning and coming up with his own solutions to help ease his grief but he knew he couldn't. He sighed as he dug his hands into his blue trousers, hunching his shoulders. His brunette hair covered his brunette eyes, damp from the rain. That was, until it suddenly stopped.

He rose his eyebrows, the rain still continued to hit the ground around him so why not him? Turning his head, he looked at the familiar face. This person held a gentle smile, his own brows knitted in concern causing the brunette to stop and look at him as he held a blue umbrella over the top of them keeping them dry.  
"It looked like you could do with help keeping dry." He spoke. The brunette sighed, his shoulders raising and falling as he did. The black haired boy continued watching him with the gentle smile.  
"Come on you can come in with me, we'll both be late anyway but at least we'll be dry." He said to him nodding his head to the limo that has pulled up on the side walk. The brunette eyed it slightly before turning back to his friend.  
"Is your brother in there too?" He couldn't help but question. That man was intimidating to say the least and the last thing he wanted right now was to be glared at by a man in a suit for getting the leather wet.  
"Seto? No he went into work really early today. Do you think Roland would have pulled over if he was?" The boy said, smirking slightly at his brunette, soggy friend. The brunette couldn't help but smile slightly back at his friend, chuckling slightly at his sarcasm. He was a well balanced teenager, all things considering.  
"I guess not, Mokuba. Lead the way then." The brunette said to him as Mokuba turned on his heels walking towards the limo. He had to keep his hair tied back, had to be neat for school. The brunette couldn't help but admit, it was always weird seeing him with his hair tied back.

"Thanks Roland, we'll see you later." Mokuba said to him, waving off the driver as he continued holding the umbrella over the top of them. The brunette waved at the driver who nodded his head at the two boys and drove away, being careful not the splash and drench them. The brunette turned his attention to the school, he could feel Mokuba watching him.  
"You were visiting Ito today huh?" He asked as they began making their way to the class, taking their time. They were already late. The brunette nodded his head to his question, taking in a deep breath and then breathing out through his nose.  
"Yeah...It's been five years...I just..." He said, trailing off. His friend remained quiet, knowing his brunette friend took it hard and hadn't been able to get over it.  
"It'll get better Akira. I know it doesn't seem like it but it will." Mokuba comforted his friend as best he could. Akira sighed once more nodding his head. He knew Mokuba meant well, and was often very mature for his age. His brother made sure of that from what the brunette could gather. The two remained silent as they walked into the school building and changed into their indoor shoes. Nothing needed to be said between them; they had been friends for a long time now and knew how the other worked.

The day had gone by rather slowly for Akira. He and Mokuba had to wait after school, detention for being tardy. Akira couldn't help but feel bad for his friend; his brother had incredibly high standards and wouldn't let him get away with as much as he did back when he was younger. The two were put on cleaning duty, taking over another pair's turn for the day. Akira rubbed his forehead with his forearm, the feeling of his cold skin to his head being a nice one.  
"Seto's going to kill you, you know that right?" Akira questioned Mokuba, who looked at him with his eyebrows raised slightly at his words. The black haired boy thought for a second, before shrugging his shoulders and picking up the bucket of dirty water.  
"No he won't. He loves me too much." Mokuba said rather confidently and quite cocky too. Akira couldn't help but smile slightly as he followed the raven haired boy, tossing the mop over his shoulder as the pair made their way to the janitors closet to put their supplies back. There was just something about his raven haired friend that brightened up his day. The start to his life was not the greatest, and yet he was so full of life, confident, happy with his life of just him and his brother. How he didn't have a girlfriend yet Akira would never know he could only assume he wasn't looking right now. But this lad, Mokuba, was Akira's best friend in the school.

 _"Hey are you okay?"_ _A voice asked that Akira had never heard before. Akira bought his head up from his knees as he looked up at the person who spoke. It was a boy with raven hair, it looked wild. He had to tie it back to make it neat for school. Akira couldn't speak, he just remained silent, his arms around his legs that pressed against his chest. He could feel his heart beat, it felt so out of control. The raven haired boy sat down in front of him, crossing his legs over one another; he didn't seem to care about his uniform getting dirty from the dirt that was underneath them._  
 _"You're Akira right? We're in the same class! You seemed distracted today is everything okay?" He persuaded on. Akira couldn't help but let his face scrounge up. He felt like such a weak person. Crying in school, he was twelve dammit why couldn't he act like it! His head dropped back into his knees, he didn't want people to talk to; not right now. The raven haired boy however didn't judge him and instead just slid himself next to him. He remained quiet as Akira continued his sobs into his knees, eventually settling down and taking deep ragged breathes.  
"Feeling better?" The boy asked not even looking at him. Akira nodded his head and wiped his eyes with his arm, a desperate attempt to dry his eyes.  
"The sun's nice today huh?" The boy asked Akira, making the brunette look at him, his brows knitted together. The raven haired boy leaned back on his hands as he continued watching the sky. Akira remained silent as he just watched. This boy wasn't judging him for sobbing like a baby.  
"I like the sun. Makes the day nicer...My names Mokuba by the way." He said, looking back at him with a calm and gentle smile. Akira remained silent as he turned his head up towards the sky, his brows staying knitted together as he watched the white fluffy clouds float gently across the blue sky. He could feel Mokuba was no longer watching him and instead turned his attention up to the sky as well. They just remained silent. That's all Akira needed. Mokuba didn't feel the need to go on with his questions, he felt the silence he received was enough to confirm his suspicions. Akira couldn't help but ask the sky in his mind why the raven haired boy was here speaking to him. Why was he so calm? Why wasn't he making fun of him for crying at school?...Did Ito send him?_

"By the by, Seto's holding a tournament soon." Mokuba said he Akira opened the janitors closet, jogging the brunette from his own small daydream. Akira looked at the boy questionably, slightly confused as to why he bought this up. Maybe there was a sentence previous to this and he just didn't hear because of his daydream.  
"So? I don't play, why would I care?" Akira said to him, watching Mokuba tip the water down the sink. He moved out of the way for his now confused friend so he could rinse out his mop.  
"I wanted to know if you can help this time. It gets bigger and bigger every year and I can't keep up with it all... unless it'll...you know...affect your..." Mokuba said, getting awkward and trailing off his sentence. Akira stopped rinsing out his mop as he turned his head to look at Mokuba from over his shoulder. He knew exactly what he was getting at. The raven haired boy was afraid doing such a thing would affect Akira's heart; it's why he did things like the heavy lifting or anything that might possibly put strain on it. The brunette couldn't help but knit his brows together as he gave his friend a small smile.  
"Affect my heart?" He asked, just to make sure. Mokuba nodded in reply remaining quiet. "Don't worry about it, I'll help out. It could be fun you know?" Akira said to him finishing up his job of rinsing out the mop. He stood it up against the corner, the fabric pointing to the floor as it dripped with water.  
"Excellent! I'll let Seto know when we get back to mine." Mokuba said, turning on his heels rather quickly and walking out the closet. Akira watched him, knowing he had no choice in the matter but to follow the boy.

Of course, had this have been anyone else, Akira would have probably refused. The thought did scare him, being in a place full of duel monsters. The excitement of seeing the creatures being bought to life often got his heart bumping fast, so fast he almost fainted a couple of times. He could understand Mokuba's worry. At the same time, Akira didn't care today. Take the risk, what was the worse that could happen? Dying? He wasn't afraid of that; that just meant he could see his sister again quicker than expected. Given any other day he wouldn't have these dark thoughts; but today...today was the day these thoughts raised and Akira would be the first to admit, he needed help. It was also this day that Akira wanted to believe help was given to him.


	2. Meeting a new face

**I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC.**

* * *

The pair stood outside the rain, it hadn't let up all day. Akira was grateful that Mokuba had thought ahead and brought an umbrella with him. The pair stayed underneath it as they waited for Roland. Akira shoved his hands into his pockets as the two watched cars drive by outside the school gates. The brunette thought over what he had signed up for when it came to helping Mokuba with this duelling tournament. Or at least help run it...what exactly was he going to be doing? He knew his friend missed school when the tournaments happened but he never actually asked him what he did.  
"So...What exactly are we doing to help with this tournament?" Akira asked Mokuba, turning his head to face him. Mokuba glanced at him slightly from the corner of his eyes before looking ahead once more. He hummed to himself slightly as he thought over all the things he usually did.  
"Making sure people don't cheat, setting up posters around the city to advertise, making sure it runs smoothly you know that kind of thing." He said with a small shrug. "We'll be watching some duels too, especially near the end for the semi-finals and finals. Just to make sure no cheating happens." Mokuba explained, seeming rather relaxed about the whole thing. Akira left it at that, he got his answer that was the main thing.

The rain continued to pour. The boys had swapped who held the umbrella some time ago, both being the same height it didn't really matter. Soon a limo pulled up to the school gates, making the raven haired boy smile widely. They began making their way towards it.  
"We'll go to Kaiba Corp, collect the posters and then start putting the-hey Seto." Mokuba began saying as he opened the door and then stopped, spotting his brother inside. Akira stood behind him, keeping the umbrella above them. His brown eyes never left his friend, the older Kaiba was imtimidating, Akira dared not look at him.  
"We were just heading to Kaiba Corp." Mokuba said as he beckoned with his hand for Akira to step forward. The older brother raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at his brother from inside the limo.  
"We?" He questioned roughly making the younger one nod his head. He sat with his arms and legs crossed over one another. He kept very much to himself.  
"Yes, we. I got Akira to help this year! Mokuba said as he began climbing in and then shuffled over, allowing Akira in next. The brunette however stood awkwardly at the door as he watched Mokuba climb in and poke his head out slightly.  
"You can get in. It's a long way to walk to Kaiba Corp." Mokuba said to him, keeping the smile on his face. Akira opened his mouth about the speak until another voice came about.  
"Either get in or leave I don't have time to sit around while you make up your mind." The older Kaiba said, making Akira quickly shut the umbrella and bundle himself into the limo, closing the door rather quickly behind him.

Mokuba smiled at him before turning back to his brother. Akira wasn't exactly the most confident boy around. He was timid of things, powerful people added to his timid nature and Seto Kaiba was very powerful. Akira was convinced he could have you killed and no one would bat an eyelid. Of course, this was mostly just false...but what if it wasn't? The brunette didn't want to find that one out the hard way. He was deep in thought until he felt a nudge in his side making him snap out of it and turn to the person who nudged him.  
"I'll be right back with the posters." Mokuba said, quickly climbing out of the car and taking the umbrella with him. He bolted for the tall building. This left Akira with his brother. The silence was awkward. Akira didn't know where to look in the limo nor did he know if he should attempt to make conversation. Swallowing the lump in his throat Akira turned his attention to the older brother.  
"The rain is nice if you're a duck huh?" Akira said trying to make small talk. Silence. "I wonder when it'll let up." Akira spoke again, trying his best to make some sort of conversation so that the silence wasn't awkward. It didn't seem to be working.  
"At least the air will be cool when it's over." Akira said keeping a small smile on his face.  
"Since you're going to be helping with this tournament, do me one favour and shut up." Seto had said to him, making Akira nod his head awkwardly and turn his head downwards  
"R-right." Akira stuttered out.

The silence returned between the pairs. Akira wondered if Seto ever had a normal conversation with anybody. He wondered how Mokuba dealt with him; he was a very quiet man, a very stern and strict man. He seemed to have a lot of discipline with himself. Mokuba compared to him was very light hearted, carefree attitude. He wondered if it was intentional. Akira was jogged out of his thoughts when he felt several rolls of glossy paper shoved into his lap and felt rolls of tape lazily dropped next to him. He turned his head towards Mokuba who shut the door behind him.  
"All set. You're going home first right bro?" Mokuba asked Seto, using the pet name he seemed to have always used. He received a single nod as the limo began driving off once more.

" _You'll love it at my house! It's huge!" Mokuba said excitedly next to his friend, a giant grin on his face as the pair sat in the limo being driven to his house. Akira starred at his friend slightly, knitting his brows together with a small smile of nervousness on his face. He wasn't sure what to expect. He had learned today that Mokuba's brother was a man called Seto Kaiba. The almighty powerful CEO for Kaiba Corp. Only at nineteen at that! That's what scarred Akira the most.  
_ " _Don't look so worried! Seto is really nice when you get to know him" Mokuba reassured his rather timid and quiet friend. Akira sighed through his nose and nodded his head.  
_ " _Are you sure it's okay for me to come round to do homework?" Akira asked him once more, there wasn't anywhere he could go if it was a sudden no, they were in a limo on the road after all. Mokuba nodded his head quickly.  
_ " _It's fine! Seto said I can have friends round as long as they don't make a mess." He said to him, making Akira give him a small smile. That was good at least. Akira wasn't too sure of his up bringing but from what Mokuba had said about their past, it sounded like he had quite a bit of freedom now that he was twelve._

The limo stopped outside a game shop. Akira lifted his head from the window and looked around rather panicked. He had been day dreaming, and didn't notice Seto was no longer in the car. The brunette looked to his friend was was undoing his seat belt.  
"This is our first stop." Mokuba said, keeping the smile on his face. Akira nodded his head and undid his own seat belt, then began picking up the rolled up glossy paper while Mokuba grabbed a roll of tape. The pair climbed out the car and quickly jogged over to the shop. Akira didn't have time to take in the name.

The bell rang as they entered, grabbing the attention of the owner quite quickly. He gave a warm smile as he leaned on his crossed over arms, supporting his weight on the glass cabinet in front of him.  
"Evening Mokuba, how can I help?" He asked the raven haired boy before glancing at Akira. Akira looked at him back quickly freezing on the spot slightly before he began unrolling the poster to show the man. He had spiky hair...very spiky hair and at three different colours! His eyes were violet as well. The man was slim, and wore a black sleeveless shirt and choker from what Akira could see...was he a goth?  
"We got the poster I was telling you about earlier!" Mokuba said excitedly, nudging his friend in the side. Akira looked at him before panicking and opening up the poster fully to show him. The man nodded his head and pointed to the window behind them.  
"Alright, just stick it in the window." He told them, keeping the warm smile on his face. Mokuba began unsticking the tape as Akira pressed the poster onto the glass. Four little stripes later and the poster was secure, showing off in all it's glory the new tournament held by Kaiba Corp.  
"How have you been? And who's your friend?" The man asked grabbing Akira's attention slightly. They seemed to know each other; that made Akira feel slightly out of place. He didn't know anyone in the gaming world at all. His hobbies usually included painting. It was quiet, it didn't make his heart beat extremely quickly with excitement. If he needed to sit down because he felt faint he could and it wouldn't be seen as rude.  
"I'm good thanks! This is Akira. He's helping this year with the tournament." Mokuba said as he made his way to the cabinet. "That reminds me are you entering this year?" He asked him, giving him a small smirk. The man looked at him, thinking slightly before nodding his head.  
"I am yes. I guess I need to defend my title." He said to Mokuba, giving him a small wink. Mokuba kept the smirk on his face and continued his chatter with the possible goth.

Akira took this time to explore. He held the other posters underneath his arm as he explored around the shop. There was card packs after card packs stacked on the walls. Even starter packs for this duel monsters. He looked at all the packs, eyeing each other. Hesitantly, Akira gently grabbed a packet and examined it. It looked like a start deck; just so you got the basic idea of how to actually play. He knitted his brows together slightly as he turned over the pack, he wasn't sure which cards were inside and the back certainly didn't tell him.  
"Do you play?" The man's voice asked. Akria jumped slightly and snapped his head towards him, stumbling with the deck and almost dropping it. The man's warm smile never seemed to have left his face. Akira shook his head as he gingerly placed the packet back onto the shelf.  
"No...I was just looking." He said to him, turning his attention back to Mokuba who snickered under his breath.  
"This is Yugi, Akira. He's the duel masters champion at the moment. He's competing too." Mokuba explained as he leaned on his elbows against the glass cabinet. Akira waved slightly, not daring to speak. This man had status; at least that's what Akira thought. That was intimidating. "If you ever feel like learning, this is the guy to come to. Apart from Seto but he doesn't teach anybody." Mokuba went on to explained, snickering once more at his sentence.  
"R-right." Akira said to him, pushing the rolls of glossy paper against his side some more. Mokuba turned his head to Yugi once more, smiling back at him. Yugi looked at him slightly, once he turned his attention away from Akira.  
"We're going to hang up the rest. I'll stop by later." Mokuba said to him, earning a nod from Yugi. The raven haired boy pushed himself off the cabinet and began making his way out of the door, Akira close by. The pair rushed towards the limo again to get out of the rain.

They had finished a few hours later, having putting up as many posters as possible. Roland had dropped Akira back off home. The brunette had to deny his friends offer to stay round; he didn't have his medication on him and god forbid he missed that. He stood in the kitchen filling up a glass of water as his mother cooked the family meal. It was quiet between them. His mother was a quiet lady, she always had been. His father was equally as quiet. Akira often wondered how the two ended up together, considering they hardly talked to each other.

He gulped down the water and took his medication before turning around to head up to his room.  
"You're not hungry, Akira?" His mother called out as she watched him go up the stairs. Akira turned his head slightly over his shoulder to look at her and shook his head, smiling apologetically at her.  
"No, sorry. I'll eat later...I think I just want sleep." He said to her, quickly leaving to head upstairs. He could hear his mother sigh slightly, seemingly annoyed that he was skipping out on dinner again. Or at least dinner with her and his father again.

He had reached his room and closed the door behind him. Leaning his back against it he slid down it, running his hands through his hair, knotting his fingers into it. Today seemed slow and he was grateful Mokuba was around to have kept him company. The brunette sighed as he gripped his hair. He didn't like being alone with his thoughts especially on days like today where it was an anniversary of something he much rather didn't have to remember. He felt guilty if he didn't though; a gluten for punishment really. He looked around his room. It had simple colours, pale green's and blue. The various paintings he had done hung on the walls. He wanted to be a professional. He wondered if he would ever get that far.

Pushing himself back up, he began undressing out of his uniform and looked over himself in the mirror. The small scar above his heart was visible. That was to repair the hole that was in it; sadly it didn't fix anything else. He traced his fingers down it. He was a skinny boy, not an inch of muscle. He examined his face, it was unblemished, but it was pale much like the rest of his body. He leaned his forehead against the cool glass, closing his eyes once more. He felt weak. He needed to lie down. Taking a deep breath, Akira pushed himself off the glass and walked to his bed. He flopped onto the covers, keeping on his school trousers. Tomorrow was Sunday, there was no school so it didn't matter. He wondered...maybe paying a visit to the card shop again wasn't such a bad idea.


	3. Black out

**I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC. This one is slightly short, I apologise it's about midnight for me when I posted this.**

* * *

" _My chest doesn't feel heavy here." He muttered, looking around the dream like land. Well, not dream like. He could only assume it was a dream, he remembered falling asleep on his bed. Where else would he be? He took a deep breath of the clean air. He wasn't exactly sure where in this dream he was, but he was sure as anything enjoying it. He couldn't hear any sounds, and in a way that was okay. The grass was green and it felt like there was a slight breeze in the sky, pushing the fluffy white clouds across the deep blue sky without a care in the world; he didn't want more._

 _Akira looked around as he took a few steps forward. That's when he suddenly felt a sharp pain run through his chest. Doubling over, he gripped at his shirt above his heart, gritting his teeth tightly together, his eyes wide opened as he just stared at the floor.  
_ " _It'll stop soon." A voice said, accompanied by a hand being laid gently onto his shoulder. Akira stiffly pulled his head up, eyes still wide, teeth still clenched as well as his hand as he looked at the person who was in front of him speaking. Ito. She stood there exactly as how he remembered her to be five years ago. She didn't look concerned, nor did she look pleased. She was expressionless.  
_ " _It'll stop very soon. Don't worry about it for now." She said to him, although Akira couldn't quite grasp what exactly she had meant._

 _The sharp pain ran through his chest again, making him drop to his knees as he gasped in as much air as possible to try and numb it. Her hand had left his shoulder and slowly so did she as she faded into the darkness that over took his vision._

Akira woke up in a cold sweat. He didn't feel the pain he felt in the dream. He felt rather normal. His bed however was soaked. He sat up feeling his face, feeling his chest. It was all just wet. The shaken teen yawned as he looked at the clock on the bed side table. 9:00AM. That was fine, he had a small lie in he could live with that. He carried himself to the bathroom groggily, nearly bumping into the door way as he journeyed.

He had told himself he was going to go to the game shop today and look into buying some duel monster cards. He never played before, but had to admit it did give him a little interest. Maybe it was watching them come to life before his very eyes, or even the excitement or watching two other people duel. Both caused his heart to race and made him feel faint; but in a way he wanted to see if that feeling would remain once he played the cards. His mother often said things happened differently when you did it yourself. Maybe this would be different too.

His shower was quick. He had to eat as well before he left otherwise he'd never hear the end of it. He quickly went back to his room and changed into a pair of jeans, tee-shirt with a graphic of Medivh from the rather popular online game World of Warcraft, about the only game he actually knew or even played sometimes when he bought a subscription for it. He scuffed up his hair, it rarely got combed. He liked the style of it being out of place and very messy. He grabbed his medical bracelet off the bedside table and clipped it on. It was a simple silver chain with a plate in the middle saying his name, date of birth and what his heart condition was. Tachycardia. A heart condition that meant the heart beats too fast and caused a number of things, such as chest pains and Syncope; those were the two symptoms Akira experienced regularly.

Once he finished getting himself presentable he rushed downstairs and nearly tripped over the cat, he grabbed his dinner from last night and sat at the table. His mum made curry, he loved curry. Akira felt like he needed to be in a rush, although why he wasn't too sure. He thumped his chest a couple of times after trying to swallow too much, his father helped him out by slamming between his shoulder blades. Akira turned his head to the man who just patted his shoulder and went over to the cat to fuss her. Silence fell between them as the teen slowed down this time.  
"You're in a rush...going somewhere?" His dad asked, scratching the cat behind her ears. She flopped onto her back and presented her belly, demanding a belly scratch.  
"Yeah I guess." Akira said to him quietly. He placed down his spoon down, he was hoping if he rushed his meal he'd eat more but this was not the case as he still left half. He sighed through his nose as he tidied up everything, letting the silence fall between him and his dad once more. Akira didn't like the silence. It bothered him greatly, but he was not someone to be loud and neither were his parents. Ito was. He just had to live with it.

Akira made it to the game shop rather quickly. He didn't see anyone from school on the way. He was glad he was right about the air feeling cooler now that the rain had stopped. It made it much nicer to walk in. The teen stopped as he looked at the building suddenly feeling nervous. He just gazed at the sign. He didn't actually read it yesterday and only knew this was the right place because of the poster in the window to advertise the tournament. Kame Game. Kame...such a strange name to name a game stop.  
"'Ey you lost?" A voice called out making the teen jump. He looked to his left to see a blonde man. The blonde wore something on his arm that held his deck. Akira's eyes couldn't help but look at it briefly, causing the blonde to grin widely at him.  
"So you' lookin' to duel ye?" He asked in his funny accent. Akira froze, he wanted to shake his head but for whatever reason his body just froze. Did he look like a duelist? As he tried to speak, the door opened up.  
"Joey I've told you before to stop pestering potential customers." The voice of Yugi said to his friend, "Good morning Akira, are you meeting Mokuba here?" He asked him, turning his attention to him. Akira could feel all eyes on him. He shook his head and then looked at Yugi properly.  
"No, no...I...Actually wanted to see about getting a deck." He said to him nervously, making Yugi raise his eyebrows slightly, "I want to learn to play." he said to him, adverting his eyes slightly. He could feel the stares still on him, and heard the slight sound of air exhaling from his nostrils coming from him.  
"I'll help you build one and can show you some pointers too." He offered, making Akira look back at him slightly surprised. Mokuba was right when he said Yugi was the guy to ask. If Seto wasn't so intimidating then he would have considered asking him too.  
"Don' worry Yug, I'll teach 'im how to play like a pro!" Joey spoke out, jabbing a thumb to himself proudly. Akira knitted his brows together, unsure how to respond to such the kind offers.  
"Now Joey, he's nervous. Let Akira decide once his made his deck." Yugi said kindly to his friend as he opened the door for the group to wonder in. Akira was the last to wonder in and as he did, he felt a sharp pain in his chest making him stop briefly. He slowly reached a hand up to grab his shirt, but refrained himself. He didn't want to do that, he didn't want to cause these people concern. Once the pain subsided, he dropped his hand again, and shoved it into his pocket.

The brunette haired teen looked over the cards he had gathered and made his deck with. Yugi had been kind enough to help him pick what magic and trap cards he'd need. They were a mixture of things, but consisted of primarily beasts. His eyes were wide with wonder. Now that he actually held them in his hands, and in affect made something himself even with guidance, he felt a connection to them. He knew he wouldn't be treating these like normal playing cards that you could buy at any old shop.  
"Did you wan' a deck to enta' in Kaiba's tournament?" Joey asked the teen, making him shake his head as he looked up from the cards in his hands.  
"No...I couldn't anyway I'm helping Mokuba this year." Akira explained to him, before turning his attention back to the deck again. "I just...I wanted to try it." He said to him, removing the top card and placing it in the back to stare at the next one. He felt an arm roughly placed around his shoulders, making him almost drop the deck until he tightened his grasp on it again. He looked up at the blonde who seemed to be very friendly, considering he just met him.  
"Why you 'elping rich boy for? He's got the money to hire more guards!" Joey said to him, making Akira feel rather uncomfortable. He said he'd help as he wanted to, he wanted to do more with his life than worry if he was going to suddenly drop dead...but he couldn't tell the blonde that.  
"Akira is a friend of Mokuba's Joey. You know Mokuba helps with good intentions, I feel Akira is doing the same." Yugi explained to him, making the blonde hum to himself and sigh slightly.  
"I still don' like him." He muttered bitterly, making Akira knit his brows together. He didn't understand why, was there a history between the two? Akira never asked Mokuba if his brother had any friends, he just never found it important to ask...maybe he could later.

Time flew by for Akira. Yugi had helped him with the basics in between managing the store. Joey gave him little mini games against him so he could get the hang of it. They were very nice people, warm and kind. Akira enjoyed the feeling of knowing that. He couldn't decide if he wanted to be friends with them but in a way, he kind of did. He knew Mokuba was so it couldn't hurt...right?

Akira placed the cards into the card holder that he bought from Yugi, he wanted to make sure they were kept very safe. He stretched his arms high above his head, stretching out his back as well as shoulders and neck. He felt slightly stiff but nothing too bad. It wasn't that far into the day, only about three. Akira turned his attention to Yugi and Joey, giving them a small smile on his pale face.  
"Thank you for helping me today...I didn't expect it." He said to the pair, receiving a smile and a nod from Yugi and a rather smug looking grin from Joey. Akira stood up, attaching the card case to his jean belt loop hole. It looked quite good there now that he thought about it.  
"I should get going. I'll make sure to stop by again." He said to the pair once more, giving a small bow and turning on his heel to leave. He could hear the pair shuffle a little, and some muttering but he couldn't exactly make out the words that was said. Akira wasn't sure if he wanted to, what if they were nasty things about him? He didn't really want to hear it.

As he reached out for the door, he felt another sharp pain attack his chest. It made him grab his shirt tightly, and clench his teeth together. He grabbed the door handle tightly, using it as a support to keep himself upright.  
"Akira, are you okay?" He heard a rather concerned Yugi ask. His body grew weak before he could answer and caused him to drop to the floor heavily. The floor felt cold against his now clammy skin. His eyes felt heavy as his body tried to gulp for air but couldn't. It hit him that he forgot to take his medication today in the rush of trying to eat breakfast. Now was not the time to think about that however. He had more pressing matters, like not being able to move his arms, and hearing the rushing steps of people to his side. He could barely hear their voices as he felt himself losing consciousness.  
"Check for anything that can help." He could barely hear Yugi tell Joey, as he felt his hand on his forehead to check his temperature.  
"'Ey Yug, check dis out." Joey said, lifting up his arm slightly that had his medical bracelet attached.

What else was said was unknown to him. He had slipped into unconsciousness before he could hear the outcome of the conversation. What Akira did remember seeing though, was the field he was in earlier, the one from his dreams, the one that Ito was in as well.  
"Your time isn't up yet, Akira. Don't be in such a rush." He heard a voice speak to him from the fading field. It sounded familiar, but at the same time not. He could have sworn he saw a hand waving at him, or more like waving him away. In a way, he was glad his body began blocking those sights and sounds; his mind didn't know what was happening...he was hoping that if he woke up he wouldn't remember those words.


	4. Still alive?

**I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC.**

* * *

" _It's not your time yet." A voice said standing in front of him. Akira knitted his brows together as he looked around. It was incredibly dark here, there was no where for light to break through. The only sounds he could hear was his own breathing and that of this mysterious voice. They were feminine, he knew that much. But he didn't know who it belonged to.  
_ " _Your life is precious, you have something to do before it's over." The voice said, calming, soothing, it seemed quite gentle. Then again most feminine voices did. Akira looked around once more hoping to find where it belonged to. When he tried to speak his throat closed, cutting off all ability to do so. He could hear footsteps coming towards him, and hesitantly placed a foot back, ready to run if need be. The walking stopped, he felt a hand on his cheek. It was warm.  
_ " _Just keep going for a little while longer... you'll be glad you did." The voice said standing directly in front of him. He could have sworn he saw a flash of brown eyes before suddenly dropping through the floor. Their touch gone. Where he was falling to, he didn't know; his mind was battling if he should trust that voice._

There were voices buzzing around the room, filling his ears although greatly muffled. Footsteps everywhere around him. He could hear them. That was normally a good thing. He tried to open his eyes, groaning as his lids opened slowly, taking in the light from the store. He was lying on his side, his hand under his cheek; he assumed to stop him from swallowing his tongue should that had occurred, or choking on his vomit if he did throw up. He doesn't believe his ever done that, but no one could ever be too sure. He heard the voices stop as well as the footsteps. He's hand twitched as his body slowly moved. He could hear relieved sighs escaping peoples mouths; there seemed to be more people here than what began with.  
"Take it slowly you've been out for about ten minutes." A female voice said, causing him to stop briefly. He placed his hands under himself and pushed himself up, shuffling himself to at least sit up properly.

Akira took a slight look around as he held himself up on his hands, he wasn't in front of the door anymore but instead in a new room all together. It seemed like a living room of some sort, that would meant his card shop was also a home. He knew there was at least one other person here as they spoke earlier, but he wasn't too sure where the others were.

His head pounded, he couldn't quite remember if it had hit the floor or not. His heart beat felt regularly too now. A hand was placed on his back, making him turn his head slightly to see who it was. It came from the woman who spoke earlier. She had short brown hair and blue eyes. Her hair was tied up into a pony tail. Akira adverted his eyes from her once he caught a glimpse of a glass of water held in front of his face. Taking it gingerly he took small sips of it.  
"How ya feeling, Akira?" Joey asked him. Akira thought for a second before answering.  
"I think I'm fine now, thank you." He spoke quickly finishing off the glass of water that was handed to him.

He heard the door to the front of the shop open and then speaking, but in another room it sounded awfully muffled and distant. Akira looked around to see where he could put his now empty glass and opted for reaching in the front of the brown haired lady and placing it on the coffee table. Taking a deep breath, he stood himself up slowly, feeling the hand leave his back.  
"Are you going to be okay? Do you need to go to the hospital or anything?" The girl had asked, standing up after him. Akira shook his head feeling around in his pockets. He still had his keys luckily so he could get into the house again which if he was honest was all he wanted to do.  
"No... I'm used to it now." He said to her rather casually, indicating that this happened a lot and shouldn't be worried about.

Walking towards the front of the shop again, Akira came out from behind Yugi, gaining the attention of both Yugi and his customer. Yugi smiled warmly at him as he leaned against the counter top. Akira smiled a little back at him as he walked back onto the shop floor and away from the back room. He briefly looked at the person who was also in the shop. She had brown hair and brown eyes, much like his. Akira knitted his brows slightly pressing his lips together as the girl quickly turned her attention away. She seemed familiar. He recognised her. Akira breathed in slightly through his nose and turned his head to Yugi.  
"I think I'll go home properly now. Thank you for letting me rest here." Akira said to Yugi, his small smile coming back to his face. Yugi nodded his head, keeping the warm smile; it never seemed to have left his face. With a wave, Akira left the game shop. He thought maybe it'd be better to go home now, tomorrow was a school day and he still had some homework to do. Not to mention he was going to be helping Mokuba with planning and such for their roles in this whole tournament.

One thing did cross his mind as he was walking. Well two. The first one being Yugi and his friends were very kind, especially to a stranger, which technology Akira was. But they were kind from the beginning. Akira would have to ask Mokuba if that was normal for the group. The second thing was the girl in the store. She looked somewhat like him, if he was a girl. Akira has heard of people that look like doppelgänger, it was a rare thing but it happened and Akira couldn't help but wonder if he met his...as a woman. He sighed through his nose as he removed the deck Yugi had helped him build back at the game store. He wasn't sure how to play, but in a way he was excited. He knew he was gonna show Mokuba at least, he had some duelling experience; maybe he would practice with him.

" _So what is Tachycardia?" The raven haired boy asked his friend as the pair sat in the library, getting whatever homework they could get done before their next class. They hadn't done it the night before, opting instead to play the various video games Mokuba had in his room and now they were paying the price for it.  
_ " _It's a heart condition." Akira replied back, flicking through the pages of his maths text book to look for the examples of a problem he was stuck on. Mokuba hummed slightly, indicating for him to continue on with the explanation.  
_ " _My heart beats too fast at times although for me it's regularly. I have to take medication to steady it." he explained further, writing down what he thought was the answer. He knitted his brows slightly, he wasn't exactly too sure if that was correct; maths was not his greatest or best subject. Mokuba hummed once more.  
_ " _What happens if you don't?" He asked, dragging his eyes from the text book to look at him properly. Akira looked up from his own text book to answer his friend.  
_ " _I faint. I usually know when I'm about to, my chest hurts." He said to him rather plainly. Mokuba slammed his hand on the table pointing his pen at Akira's face as he leaned over the table. Akira crossed his eyes to look at the pen, his shoulders hunched as he just concentrated on that object.  
_ " _Remember to take your medication!" He yelled at him, drawing attention to the pair of them. Akira remained silent and nodded his head, keeping his eyes crossed to look at the pen. It was pushed forward, pushing his nose up and making Akira close his eyes tightly as it felt like his friend was trying to jam it up his nostril with very little success._

 _The raven haired boy sat down again, removing his pen from his friends face as he crossed his arms and nodded his head.  
_ " _Good. I don't feel like telling people to go away while you decide to faint in the middle of class or something." Mokuba said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice which Akira couldn't help but snort at slightly, his mouth covered over his hand to do so earning a questionable look from Mokuba. Akira shook his head, humming to himself.  
_ " _It's nothing. But thank you for looking out for me." He said to him grinning at the raven haired boy. This just caused the boy to grin back at him, before turning it into a smirk. At least Akira knew he could rely on him, should he be around and something happened._

 _He was glad to have met him._

The school bell went off, signalling the end of the day. Akira barely had classes with Mokuba today, so they had agreed to meet up outside for the lift back to Kaiba Corp. Akira bounced from one foot to another. Today was hot and while they weren't allowed to remove their school jackets they could leave them undone. That's what Akira chose to do but it still wasn't enough to keep him cool. He dug through his bag for his water bottle taking a big gulp of that, before nearly spitting it out at the sudden grasp of someone's arm around his shoulders.  
"You ready to head to Kaiba Corp?" Mokuba asked him, keeping his arm around his shoulder. Akira swallowed his water and glanced at his friend from the corner of his eyes.  
"Yes, I assume you are?" He said to him as he was released from his grasp. Mokuba nodded enthusiastically, patting Akira's back as looked around for Roland.

As the pair waited, Akira spotted somebody. It was the girl from yesterday. Except, she was just standing there; looking directly at the pair. Akira squinted his eyes to see if he could get a better look at her, but she was just that little bit too far away. He felt his legs move towards the person, ignoring the questions coming from his friend. He's fast walk turned into a small jog before he was stopped by someone grabbing his wrist. Car's zoomed past on the road, Akira could understand why now he was stopped. His gaze however kept on the girl on the other side, this time he could see her mouthing something. Her own brows were knitted together as she continued saying something. What Akira could make out, it sent shivers down his spine and made his eyes widen slightly in fear and blood run cold. "I'm not dead." Was what he was able to make out.

Just as he was about to shout over to the person, another voice cut him off.  
"Akira! What were you doing?!" Mokuba's panicked voice shouted at him, making the brunette turn his attention to his friend. He could only look at him, before he turned his attention back to where the girl was standing; she was gone. Akira turned back to his friend, who looked at him concerned wondering if he was really alright. Mokuba had heard that he fainted at the Kame Game stop yesterday and couldn't help but wonder if he was really okay.  
"You...didn't see her?" Akira asked him. Mokuba narrowed his eyes at him, wondering what he was going on about. "The girl, across the road. You didn't see her?" Akira said again, this time explaining in a bit more detail. Mokuba looked across the street before looking back at his obviously delusional friend.  
"I was more worried about you getting yourself ran over! What were you thinking?!" His friend questioned him once more, his voice becoming demanding and raised. Akira could guess he picked it up from his brother. But he couldn't answer that question. Instead, Akira looked back across the road again where she once stood and shook his head.  
"I guess I wasn't... Sorry." He said to him, turning his attention back to his friend. Mokuba sighed and let go of his wrist, nodding his head back towards the school car park. Akira looked past him and could see the black limo waiting patiently for the two. He followed the raven haired boy back, his mind playing back on what he saw. He had to find out; he just knew it.

The journey back to Kaiba Corp was quiet. Akira was still running over his head what he saw and Mokuba was too angry at him to speak without sounding like his brother. Akira glanced over at his friend, he sat very much like his brother; arms and legs crossed. He stared out of the window, a rather annoyed look on his face. Akira turned his attention away to the other window, watching the people on the street walk by. Compared to Mokuba, Akira was very scatty with what he did, or as a person in general. Then again he was also very timid as well, even more so compared to Mokuba.

Kaiba Corp came into view. The massive glass building with a canapé saying "KC" and two Blue Eye White Dragon statues standing outside in the front. The man certainly loved his dragons and often used every opportunity he could to make something into them. The pair got out of the limo, neither speaking a word to each other. Akira wondered if it was better for him to return home for the night and leave Mokuba alone. But he also knew how important this tournament was and how important to Mokuba it was that everything was done right on their part; he had to endure it. They walked into the building and stood in the elevator in silence as it took them to the top floor where Seto's office was. The meeting and planning also included him of course so it naturally made sense.

Akira took a deep breath through his nose.  
"Hey Mokuba, about earlier I-"  
"Don't worry about it." Mokuba said, cutting off his friend. Akira knitted his brows together as he looked at the boy, who in turn had closed his eyes slightly and taken a deep breath himself.  
"Just be more careful. Last thing I want is to visit you in hospital." He said to him, grinning over at his brunette friend. Akira couldn't help but smile slightly at him and nodded his head. He felt the elevator come to a stop and turned his head forward again. The pair walked out and towards Seto's office. Akira couldn't help but look around at the building. It was massive. He could see the entire city up from here. Unfortunately for Akira he hadn't been paying attention and walked straight into the door that separated Seto's office to the rest of the corridor. Mokuba snorted at him as Akira rubbed his face with his hands, looking at the door.  
"That'll teach you to pay attention." Mokuba said just as a "Come in" was heard from the other side of the door. Seto had taken Akira's thud as a knock; making him wonder just how hard people bang on his door in the first place.

The two walked into the office. It was quite neat and tidy. There was various folders on shelves, all labelled in date order. Akira looked around the office as he and Mokuba stood on the opposite side of Seto's desk; who didn't even seen bothered they were there as he was busy typing away on the PC. Akira looked ahead of him after he was done gawking at the older brother's office. He heard Mokuba clear his throat slightly, gaining his brother's attention.  
"I know you two are there." He simply said, clicking a few times with his mouse and then turning his attention to the two teens. "We have a couple of more people turning up." He said simply.

The meeting seemed to have gone well. The city was divided into four sections, west, east, south and north. Akira and Mokuba would be in charge of West. It was their job to make sure nobody was cheating and resolve disputes. Seto said he would be competing as well, so he would be able to keep an eye on the city that way. Over all it seemed rather productive, although it was clear the other people on duty were not pleased with Akira being involved, with one of them even commenting why he was around; his never done anything like this and didn't look like he could hold his own against someone if he needed to. Of course, Mokuba stood up and said he was the one that offered it to him, and he would be learning on the job anyway.

The night time air was refreshing. Akira said he would walk home that evening, he just wanted some fresh air after being stuck in a meeting for a couple of hours. This concerned Mokuba, especially after today with him nearly walking into traffic. Akira calmed the boys nerves, telling him he'll text him as soon as he was home. It wasn't long until Akira spotted someone. Narrowing his eyes, he noticed it was the girl from earlier. She seemed to have spotted him and ran for it. Akira, against his better judgement, ran after her; he had to know who this was.


	5. Ito

**I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC.**

 **Darksidechick** **– Thank you kindly for the review, I'm glad the story is keeping your interest!**

* * *

His lungs burned as his heart beat quickened. Akira wasn't used to running, he was banned from exercise in school as his parents and teachers were afraid he'd keel over. Akira was pretty sure he wouldn't, but now that he was doing this he could no longer say. Still; he needed to see where that person went, he had to know. The skies quickly opened up with rain, something he was glad for as it cooled him down. This was the only part of the rainy season in Japan that he enjoyed.

Akira could still make her out, she was taking a lot of corners and rain through alleys to try and lose him. If people saw they might have thought he was actually up to know good; chasing a girl through the streets he must look like a predator! It made him grateful that people decided to stay inside for the rain. He could feel his heart thump against his chest in protest to the sudden exercise as his lungs continued to burn. Akira couldn't help but cough, bringing his arm up to his mouth to do so and cough into the fabric of his school jacket.

The running slowed to a walk before slowing entirely. The girl he was chasing had stopped, but kept her back turned to him, staring at the fence that stopped her attempts to get away from him. Akira doubled over and placed his hands onto his knees, taking in deep breaths and letting out a hacking cough. Maybe this is why he didn't do sports in school, his heart felt like it would explode or stop all together.

Thumping his chest with his balled fist, he slowly brought up his body to look at the girl. She still had her back turned, letting only her brown hair and black clothing be visible to him. Breathing still jagged, he took a step forward gaining her attention. Her back became rigid and her breath caught in her throat.  
"I...I just want to ask you something...I just want answers." He said awkwardly to her, unsure on what to say or how to actually speak to her, after all he did just chase her in the pouring streets she probably believed him to be a creep. But she stayed silent. Akira took a deep breath through his nose, keeping his eyes on her.  
"Ear-earlier today, you said "I'm not dead"...What did you mean?" He asked her, hoping to coax something out of her. She however remained silent to his words, not daring to turn around. Akira knitted his brows together, a frown forming on his lips; surely he wasn't hallucinating this girl...right?  
"Well...I'm not." She said simply to him, breaking his chain of thought. It was Akira's turn to remain quiet. All he could do was stare.

The air filled with tension as the two teens stood silent. The brunette boy watching the brunette girls back. She didn't dare to move and neither did Akira for that instance. He wasn't even sure if he was awake any more. The rain flattened his hair, making his hair cover his eyes slightly once more; the rain flattened the girls air too but rather or not they covered her eyes he couldn't tell. He swallowed hard, he needed to know.  
"Your name...it's not...it's not Ito...is it?" He questioned, pausing between his words unsure how to exactly ask her. She froze once more at the name. Her fingers curling into the palm of her hands before releasing themselves once more. Akira's brows stayed knitted as he stepped forward silently, reaching out a hand to grab her shoulder.  
"Please...I...I just need to know." He begged. Before his hand could make contact however a fist soon landed square in his nose. He yelped in surprise and pain, grabbing his face and closing his eyes tightly as he stumbled backwards; he wasn't expecting to be thumped. He listened to the foot steps run past him.  
"You shouldn't meddle in what you don't understand! Move on! Forget about everything that ever happened in the past and enjoy what little left there is on this world!" She screamed at him. By time Akira opened his eyes and looked to see where she was going she was gone.

Akira's eyes scanned the place as he dropped his hands from his face. He couldn't see her any more. He tried to think over her words and what they meant. Biting the inside of his cheek in frustration he walked out of the alley. He could feel blood drip from his nose and held a hand to it and slowly pushed his head backwards. It felt broken, he cringed with the slightest touch to it. When she swung round to whack him one he managed to catch a glimpse of her face. Her eyes matched his. She looked like him from that glimpse he was almost certain...no he was positive it was Ito. He couldn't mistake the eyes for anyone else. But then it played on her mind, he literally watched her drop dead and attended the funeral...so how could it be? And could it have something to do with her words.  
"Meddle in what I don't understand...I want to understand." He muttered to himself as he watched the grey skies, allowing the rain to soak him through.

"Akira what happened to your nose?!" A panicked voice that could only belong to his mum said as soon as he walked in through the door. Before he could even answer she was right up to him and staring cross eyed at his nose, inspecting the damage that had been done. She glanced down at his hand, her panicked expression staying on her face.  
"And your hand! What have you been doing?!" She demanded from her son. Akira pulled on an apologetic smile to his face; slightly amused that she thought he hurt his hand when in reality it was just covered in the blood from his nose. He'd thought the rain would have at least washed away the blood but clearly not.  
"I walked into a door that's all. The blood on my hand is from my nose." He explained to her, and well lied to her. He wasn't going to suddenly say "I found Ito she's not actually dead just slightly crazy." No, that would make his mother worry even more...he was still trying to believe it himself. Everything rolled in his head and just confused him; he was determined to make sense of it.

His mother hummed to herself as she stepped back from her son to at least allow him room to breath properly. She shook her head placing her hands onto her hips as she frowned at him and raising her eyebrows.  
"Honestly Akira, you can be very clumsy sometimes. Go wash up and get some dinner. Is your nose broken?" She asked him as he scooted past her. Akira turned his head slightly over his shoulder towards her, shaking his head with another lie.  
"No just sore... I'll get something to eat later I'm not hungry." He said to her, smiling at her apologetically. Her brows creased together, she was worried about his eating habits. He never had much of an appetite, regularly compared to that of a sparrow's when he was hunger but now it was worrying her. Maybe she should have forced him to eat more when he was younger. Akira just kept the apologetic smile on his face and quickly ran up the stairs to the bathroom.

Locking the door behind him he turned and walked to the mirror, starring at himself. His nose will never be straight again. He thought back to who he believed was Ito. She was only a few inches shorter than he was when he got close to her. Her hair was the same brunette as his as were her eyes. But unlike his they seemed...almost soulless. Like she wasn't fully there or a puppet to someone else's command. The Ito he knew all those years ago she was never like that. She was brave, braver than him as they got older but welcoming to others as well. Her eyes spoke volume's for that. But those eyes now? They didn't hold the same grace. He knitted his brows together as he lurched forward, grabbing a hold of the sink. He felt nauseous; a routine thing that seemed to happen now before he went to bed. Akira shook his head and backed away. He needed a clear head to think this through properly. He couldn't do it like this, not with a million and one things buzzing around his mind and jumping to conclusions and how Ito was there. The brunette took himself off to bed...he needed the sleep.

-x-

" _Leave her alone!" A young voice of Akira shouted at a boy much older than him, pushing the boy as best he could. He however didn't budge. The young brunette glared at the older boy, the weeps and wails from his sister deafening his ears from behind him. The older boy just smirked at him._

" _Who's going to make me!" He yelled back, pushing Akira backwards hard and over the top of his sister's back. He sprawled out on the floor as he landed on his own back, wincing slightly._

" _Aki!" Ito shouted in surprise through her own sobs. Soon, Ito found herself pushed over onto Akira as well; moving her from the original spot she had landed on after being pushed off the swing by the older boy. This of course started her sobbing and wailing again, soon turning into coughs._

" _Let's leave them alone, Koji. They're like five." The other boy said, beginning to walk away from Koji and the twins. Koji huffed and turned on his heels, leaving the two alone._

 _The sobs soon started to calm down just as Akira was sitting himself up. He leaned back on his hands groaning slightly; he hadn't expected to be pushed over his sisters back. He looked to his sister, who hiccuped occasionally. Noticing the sun was going down he slowly got himself up and held his hands out to her. She grabbed onto them and pulled herself up as he walked backwards._

" _We should go home, it's getting dark." He said to her as he began walking them in the direction of their house, keeping a hold of her hand. Ito stayed quiet on the walk home. She looked to her brother when she felt him stop. Looking ahead she could spot what he was staring at; Koji and his friend._

 _Ito wrinkled her nose and let go of Akira's hand, making him look at her with his eyebrows raised. He quickly began to panic once she spirited over to them. Akira began running over as soon as he saw that she reached them and pushed Koji over, straight over a bike rest and onto the floor._

" _We're five and one half you smelly face!" She shouted at him, sticking her tongue out at him hard before feeling herself being pulled by Akira; who had quickly ran past the bullies and now dragged Ito with him. He could hear the screams coming from Koji, who obviously hadn't expected to be shoved onto the floor by the younger girl. In a way he felt good. He knew his sister could look after herself in some way if he wasn't around; he just wished she did so in other ways._

 _-x-_

It had been a week since that incident and if anything Akira was more annoyed than ever. He hadn't seen Ito since his encounter with her in the rain and being punched in the face. The scene constantly played out in his head. Not only that but he had other things to worry about as well, such as this tournament and going to Yugi's to learn how to duel. Mokuba had since found out and was excited about the prospect, even saying if he wanted to he could enter the tournament. But Akira didn't want to back out from the job so declined; and instead just said that maybe Mokuba could duel him and teach him some more, he wasn't after a title anyway.

Him and Mokuba had decided to take a "mini tour" of the quarter of the city they had been tasked with watching over. Mokuba pointed at various things to look out for and even commented on them from when it was only him doing this at the age of twelve back in Duellist City. Akira couldn't help but admire him for it; his brother Seto trusted him with so much it was unreal and now that he was older he trusted him with so much more.

"Always keep an ear out for the walky talky you never know when you're needed." Mokuba said as he shoved his hands into his puffer jacket's pockets. Akira nodded his head, stuffing his own hands into his hoodie's front pockets.  
"Walky talky...got it." He parroted, more so for making a mental note of it all. Mokuba grinned widely as he thought over everything, humming to himself as he starred up at the sky as if keeping an eye on the weather. It had threatened to rain after all.  
"That's all I can think of now... Oh and always expect something new to happen! Each tournament Seto has held so far has never been the same twice." Mokuba commented making Akira nod his head once more, making another mental note. He was good at that; taking mental notes. He never seemed to forget things that way; physical notes on the other hand he just forever lost.

The pair of teenagers weren't keeping an eye on where they were going and ended up walking into someone. The person yelped as she was shoved over, seemingly having been standing in the middle of the pathway.  
"We're sorry! Are you okay?" Mokuba quickly said, offering his hand to the person. Akira took a good look at the person, his eyes widening slightly.  
"That's her!" Akira exclaimed to Mokuba, making the body freeze as she began pushing herself up from the floor. Mokuba raised his eyesbrows slightly at his friend, before looking back at the girl who was now slowly standing up from off the floor.  
"What do you mean?" Mokuba questioned, never taking his eyes off the body. Akira took another look. Brunette hair the same colour as his, and dark clothes once more.  
"Ito...She's Ito!" He said to him, only confusing his friend even more. This just made the girl freeze some more. She couldn't run; that was be suspicious and that was exactly what Akira was counting on. Mokuba could only look at his friend concerned, knitting his brows together as he pulled his hand back towards his body.  
"She's gone Akira... Do you-" Mokuba began saying, before the girl took off running once more; clearly not too concerned about drawing conclusions to herself. Akira sprinted after her, and turned on the ball of his foot slightly to look at Mokuba, jogging backwards.  
"Follow me, I know it's her!" He shouted to his raven haired friend. Mokuba sighed slightly, keeping his brows knitted and reluctantly following. His friend was losing it he couldn't let him go off by himself.

The raven haired boy caught up with his brunette friend as they ran after the girl who Akira believed to be Ito. The fire that Akira's lungs once felt had returned as the two sprinted after her. The only difference this time was that she had to weave between people, something she was apparently not used to as she knocked over several people in her bid to get away. Akira and Mokuba however were professionals at this, as they weaved effortlessly past the people who wondered why the teens were in such a hurry.

They managed to catch up to her. The pair grabbed an arm each and pulled her back, making "Ito" kick out in front of her at nothing. Akira was absolutely positive he was right and Mokuba was following along because he wanted to help his friend, and prove this girl wasn't his sister.  
"Let me go! I will scream rape!"She threatened as her kicking continued. Akira kept his hold on her though as Mokuba loosened up, the thought of such a reputation stunning him. He couldn't do that to himself or to his brother.  
"Not this time, Ito! I need answers." Akira said to her making the girl stop her kicking slowly. Mokuba looked rather confused and stunned. He slowly walked round the Akira, watching "Ito" closely before stopping in front of her. Her head was dropped, watching the floor. Mokuba kneeled over slightly, putting his face underneath hers to have a good look, then gasping in surprise and shock once he had a good look felt pain in his stomach.  
"She...she looks like you!" He gasped, rubbing his stomach as he stumbled backwards. "Ito" had placed her foot back down onto the floor, she apparently felt the need to knee Mokuba in the stomach for having a look at her face. Akira nodded his head as he took a hold of her other arm, locking them with his to make sure she doesn't get away.  
"I told you! And she's going to answer my questions." Akira said to him, a determined look on his face as well as one of being visibly upset.

Mokuba watched his friend, he had never seen such a look on his friends face. But he knew he needed answers. After all, Ito has been "Dead" for the past five years. And Akira...well...Akira wanted his answers. Why was she being confusing? Last week or so she was mouthing she wasn't dead, as if she wanted him to talk to her and now, now she being hostile, almost like this was the complete opposite of what she wanted. Akira needed to know; what has happened to Ito over the last five years and was her death even real?


	6. Never died

**I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC.**

* * *

Mokuba watched as Akira struggled with his sister. He wasn't the strongest boy around, and it was clear Ito was gaining an advantage over him. Akira however remained determined, keeping his feet planted on the floor as he kept a hold of her arms. Mokuba was thankful she hadn't carried out her threat to yell rape. They did not need that right now. Mokuba stopped rubbing his stomach and stood up straight as he watched his friend's struggle. Akira took a deep breath through his nose and lent backwards, lifting the young girl off her feet as she stumbled back slightly with her weight suddenly on his chest.  
"H-Hey! Put me down!" She yelled, kicking her legs out in an attempt to get him to drop her just as the rain started pouring from the skies. Akira however was not deterred. He was luckily taller than her and that helped a lot.  
"Akira are you...?" Mokuba began saying stepping forward slightly. He was glad his friend was not going insane; that had worried him for the past week or so. Akira nodded his head, gaining his balance as Ito continued to kick out rather violently.  
"Yeah...never better! Let's go somewhere quieter to question her." Akira said through struggling breath as he took a step forward.

Ito continued her kicking as the pair walked to somewhere quieter to talk to her. They received odd looks from people but they never stopped to question seeing as Akira and Ito looked similar despite not having seen each other for a number of years. Her weight pressed against Akira's chest, it felt like it was pressing on his heart making carrying her harder than it should have been. Mokuba kept glancing at his friend, who had to stop every now and again to recompose himself. He wondered if Ito even knew she was causing her brother such discomfort; but then the thought also crossed his mind that she did and was using it to her advantage.

They managed to find a quiet spot just off the pier. There wasn't any people round and Akira had hoped that maybe the smell of sea water would calm her down; it was one of her favourite places to be when they were younger so it seemed logical to him. Akira placed her feet back onto the ground again and turned her around by her shoulders so her back faced the rail. She glared bitterly at him, annoyed that her kicking had not deterred him. Akira tried his best to match it; but he was a gentle soul. He couldn't look at her with the same amount of hatred she was able to give off. Mokuba remained silent as he watched the twins silent gazes. He kept his hands out of his puffer jacket in case she decided to do a runner; he was quite fast so he'd be able to catch up with her no problem. Akira on the other hand seemed like he needed the rest.

"How...how are you still alive? I watched you drop dead." Akira explained to her, gaining a new interest from Mokuba. He knew that his friends sister was dead but he never tried to get out of him how she died, it happened before they met. From what Mokuba understood after Ito had died, Akira was transferred to Domino High which was now an all boys school. That's how they met. Hearing that she just suddenly dropped dead was new to him; he turned to look at Ito who remained silent. It didn't seem like she dared to answer his question, or even speak at all.  
"I went to your funeral...you were gone. If you've been alive all this time why didn't you come back?!" Akira asked her again, but this time it seemed more angry and upset. Mokuba watched as this new side of his friend started coming out. He had never seen the boy angry and upset at the same time. Heck he never really saw him angry, just concerned, or worried. He had seen him cry; Akira wasn't afraid to cry round him. Mokuba just put it down to the two of them being very good friends. Heck they even acted like brothers most of the time. Seeing this new emotion from Akira...it was unnerving for him.

But Ito refused to answer. Instead she continued her hateful glare, her fingers digging into the palms of her hands. Akira knitted his brows together, his hair soaked with rain and covering his eyes partly, it did the same for her. Even Mokuba was having some issues with the rain covering part of his eyes too. Akira took a deep breath through his nose as he stepped closer, Ito visibly tensing up and trying her best to step back only for her back to hit the rail. She looked over her shoulder briefly before looking back at her brother.  
"Please Ito...How are you still alive? I just want to know." Akira explained to his sister reaching out to touch her shoulder. The last time he did that was a week ago and he was socked in the face for it. He was hoping the result would be different. He only wanted to hug her if anything, he knew she was real after all her weight was on his chest not moments before.

Ito tensed up more watching him before suddenly leaping at him and forcing him to the floor. Akira gasped stunned at the sudden action feeling her weight on his chest again. Mokuba stared stunned at what she just did, he couldn't work out why she was acting so hostile. He could only guess something must have happened in the five years she was gone. Akira never mentioned her to be hostile. Her hands were on Akira's throat, grasping at him tightly. Akira placed his hands onto her wrists attempting to pry her off with very little success, the glare hardening on her face; her eyes narrowed and full of spite.  
"Do NOT touch me! You understand?! Never touch me!" She shouted at him, lifting his up head by his neck and slamming it onto the wooden deck underneath him. Akira gritted his teeth as he tried to take in air, he was feeling light headed from both the lack of air and having the back of his head slammed against wood.

Mokuba knew he needed to do something and quickly jogged up behind her. Panicking he looked between her hands connected to his friends neck and then back at Ito. It was then he elbowed her in the back of her head, causing her to instantly let go and slump next to Akira. The brunette took in a deep breath of air, coughing and choking at the sudden filling of his lungs as he pushed himself up. His sisters actions worried him, she was never violent. Multiple thoughts crossed his mind as he tried to think what could have happened. He leaned back on his hands, continuing to take deep breathes and coughing occasionally now that his body knew it wasn't starved of air. He turned his attention to Ito, seeing her unconscious and looked at her wide eyed.  
"You knocked her out!" Akira yelled, stunned, to Mokuba who looked equally as stunned about having done it.  
"I panicked!" He retorted back, his voice equally as stunned.  
"You knocked her out!" Akira repeated still unable to believe what had just happened.  
"She looked like she was going to kill you!" Mokuba retorted back to Akira. A silence fell over the three of them as Akira looked wide eyed at his sister. She seemed peaceful like this, breathing gently. He looked back over to his raven haired friend.  
"...You knocked her out!"

Ito laid on Mokuba's back, her head dipped on his shoulder and arms lazily flung over on his shoulder too. He had his hands under her legs to keep her up right. She remained unconscious and if anything that's how the boys preferred her at the moment. Akira rubbed his throat, it felt sore to touch. Finger marks started to slowly appear around his neck where she had gripped, trying to choke him. Mokuba had volunteered to carry her on his back, it seemed like Akira needed the break and even if the brunette wouldn't admit it he was thankful Mokuba did offer. He didn't feel like he had the strength to carry her this time.  
"Something's happened to her in those five years..." Akira said to him, stating the obvious. It sounded more like he was voicing his thoughts. Mokuba remained quiet, only nodding his head and watching Akira as he rubbed his throat again, wincing at the touch.  
"She was never violent when we were younger...something happened to make her this way. I know my sister is still in there I can feel it." Akira continued on, his gaze falling to the floor. "We need to find somewhere she can rest... actually now that I think about it mum and dad are out of the city for a while; she can stay there until I think of something else." Akira said more to himself than Mokuba. Mokuba knitted his brows together, it was hard seeing his friend so confused and questioning.  
"I'll stay with you as well... just to help keep an eye on her." Mokuba said to him, giving his friend a reassuring smile. Akira snapped his head at his raven haired friend, smiling back kindly and gratefully at him, glad that he had suggested to do so. The brunette wasn't sure if he'd be able to cope on his own.

The three of them got back to Akira's house just as the rain had started to let up. They removed their shoes before stepping in, with Akira removing Ito's shoes. Their clothes were soaked all the way through. Akira turned his attention to Mokuba briefly.  
"Keep an eye on her, I'll bring down the spare futons and some clothes." He said to him. Mokuba nodded his head, adjusting Ito slightly who was still on his back.  
"I'll call Roland in a little bit and ask if he can bring me some spare clothes. In all honestly I'm a little worried leaving her alone with you." Mokuba admitted to Akira, making the brunette smile apologetically to him. He didn't mean to cause his friend concern and knew Mokuba was doing this so he could make sure Ito didn't try to strangle him or worse now that they were in the house. The brunette nodded his head as he quickly ran up the stairs to grab the things.

Mokuba gently placed Ito onto the floor, propping her back onto the back wall of the couch. He didn't think she deserved such treatment at this point but knew his friend would be upset if she was treated any other way. He removed his phone from his back pocket and began ringing Roland. It didn't take long for Roland to pick up.  
"Hello Roland. Can you do me a favour and grab some clean clothes for me then bring them to Akira's house? I'll tell Seto later." He asked the man. Sure he was just a driver, but Mokuba also knew Roland wouldn't question things either. With a grumble Roland agreed, making Mokuba thank him for doing so. He ended the call and quickly glanced at Ito who continued to remain unconscious. He couldn't help but sigh, if she wasn't crazy; they could have been really good friends.

The raven haired boy jumped as things landed on the landing of the stairs. Futons and blankets sprawled across the floor. Mokuba looked up to see his friend come down afterwards. He had changed into some dry clothes and held some out to Mokuba as well, keeping a wide smile on his face.  
"I know you said you're calling Roland but I thought you could borrow these until then." Akira said to him. Mokuba accepted the change of clothes gratefully; he wasn't sure how long Roland would take especially if Seto caught him so a change of clothes was nice. Mokuba excused himself to go change as Akira grabbed the futons he had thrown down the stairs.

It had taken a while, seeing as Akira needed to move the furniture a little bit as well but everything was set up. Ito was in some clean clothes; Akira had taken liberties of changing her she was his twin after all. It also gave him a chance to see if she was hurt. He couldn't see anything to indicate that she was hurt which one of hand was good; on the other it still didn't explain her odd behaviour. Roland had come with a change of clothes for Mokuba, leaving him set for a few days until he either had to get more or borrow Akira's washing machine. Akira and Mokuba sat on the futons talking to each other, occasionally glancing at Ito who still remained unconscious.  
"How long do you think it'll be until she wakes up?" Akira asked Mokuba, who shrugged his shoulders. He honestly had no idea; the only reason how he knew how to render people unconscious was because Seto had taught him a while back. Something along the lines of knowing self defence was a good thing.  
"Maybe not till morning...I did hit her pretty hard I think. Harder than I thought anyway by the looks of it." Mokuba admitted, smiling both apologetically and sheepishly. Akira sighed slightly and shook his head indicating it was fine.

He looked up at the clock, it was getting quite late and neither of them were hungry. The cat had made herself at home on Akira's futon; rolling about on her back and purring quite happily. Akira poked the middle of Podge's stomach, making the cat roll about with her head turned upside and paws outstretched. She was quite the fat cat; considering she was meant to be a Siamese. Akira didn't believe for one second she was full Siamese, that or his parents were over feeding the thing. The brunette turned his attention back to Mokuba who was happy keeping himself amused on his phone. The two sat in silence. They were quite happy to do so; they couldn't be loud anyway in fear of waking up Ito prematurely and considering how she acted earlier on today they certainly didn't want that.

Akira laid down on his futon, crawling under the quilt as he played with Podge. He scattered his hand on the floor in front of her, gaining her attention as she attempted to bat his hand with a paw. He'd occasionally poke her nose lightly, making the feline sneeze and shake her head before attempting to bat his hand again. She didn't seem off put by the sudden reappearance of Ito in fact she seemed quite at home with the twin being there. Akira could only assume that Podge had missed her as much as him or simply didn't notice that she ever left.

-x-

 _They had been playing in the school playground with some other kids. Catch was a favourite among the group of school children. Akira smiled widely with anticipation as he watched for the ball; Ito stood ready with her arms loosely open and fingers separated. The ball came straight for Akira, and so did the other people who wanted to catch it. Their game of catch was odd; it was more of an anything goes type of thing, as long as you caught that ball and it never dropped to the floor it was okay._

 _Akira readied himself for the impact of his fellow classmates and sister. He was tackled by one of the other boys, who in turn tackled him causing the three of them to fall to the floor in a heap with Akira on the bottom. Ito used this as her chance and quickly ran towards the group. She stood on the boys back and jumped up catching the ball, then landing with a thud onto her bottom onto the small dog pile. She waved her arm happily, keeping the large smile on her face._

" _I got it!" She yelled happily, sliding off the three man pile and straightening out her school skirt._

 _The boys got off of Akira, the last one helping him up as he seemed rather winded from being landed on. The school bell rang, indicating that it was time to go back inside. As the other three boys turned to leave, Akira waited for his sister who threw the ball away. She began walking forward then stopped suddenly and dropped to the floor._

" _Ito!?" Akira cried out panicked, gaining the attention of the group as well as everybody else who was coming back into the building. He quickly ran to her and skidded down onto his knees, shaking her body to try and get her to wake up. A group started forming around them as mutters spread in the circle. Akira could feel tears come to his eyes as he continued shaking her trying to get her to wake up; but she wouldn't respond. It didn't look like she was breathing, but Akira had no medical experience to tell._

 _A teacher soon came over, pushing their way through the group and gasped at the two pre-teens. Akira gripped onto his sisters school shirt, continuing to shake her and yelling for her to wake up. The teacher ordered a student to go and tell another while she helped with the situation. The teacher walked up calmly and knelt next to Akira, gently putting her hands onto his and prying off his fingers from his sisters shirt sleeve. He went numb. He couldn't take his eyes off his sister, he didn't even hear what the teacher had said to him. He couldn't hear what anybody was saying to him, everything was just static and his sister...his twin... it seemed like she had left the world._

 _-x-_

Akira was the first one up between him and Mokuba. He fluttered his eyes open. He spotted Ito. She was sitting up the cat in her lap. Ito didn't seem to notice Akira was up yet as she played with the cat's paws, muttering something to herself. From what Akira could make out it seemed like she was just making the cat hit air drums going "boom boom boom" with every imaginary strike. Akira couldn't help but smile gently to himself as he begun shifting himself. This caught Ito's attention as she immediately snapped her head up and watched as her brother pulled himself up to sit up. The brunette boy kept the smile on his face as he watched his twin, laying his hands in his lap and crossing his legs over.  
"How you feeling?" He muttered to her so that he didn't wake Mokuba; catching her completely off guard.

Ito remained quiet, trying to figure out if he was serious. She strangled him and here he was asking how -she- was. She could see the bruising on his neck caused by her own hands. Akira noticed as she knitted her brows together in disbelief to what she was hearing. The male twin noticed, and kept the calm smile on his face.  
"Does your neck hurt? Where you were struck?" Akira asked her in a whisper, gesturing to the back of his neck. Ito slowly shook her head, keeping her eye on him.  
"Why are you asking me? I nearly strangled you!" Ito asked him matching his whisper, confused more than anything. Akira took note of her mood change, it was certainly more different than yesterdays not that he was complaining. Still, he kept the calm and gentle smile on his face while he watched his sister.  
"It's fine; I don't believe you meant to. Besides your my little sister...I need to make sure you're okay right?" Akira explained to her, if anything he sounded naive to believe she wasn't trying to harm him, It catched the girl off guard even more.

She pressed her lips together forming a small line as her eyes half closed. She moved her hands around the cat better, stroking her fur out of both confusion as distress. Akira furrowed his brows as he witnessed his twin begin to break down; almost like she hadn't experienced kindness in general for a long time. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she bought Podge up and buried her face into her fur. Podge didn't seem to mind and purred loudly at the "attention." This only confused Akira more and more; it made him wonder...what had Ito experienced in the five years she was gone? What had she seen and more importantly, what was actually down to her?


	7. Back and gone again

**Apologise for the delay! I've been busy packing bits away in my home so I can move half way across the country and looking for a new job while at it.**

 **Darksidechick** **– I wonder too so I guess we'll just have to wait and see!**

 **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC.**

* * *

Ito continued her silent sobbing into Podge the cat's back. All Podge did was stretch her front toes out, meowing and tail swishing side to side. Akira knitted his brows together and very gently took a hold of Podge, prying his sisters fingers off the cat who just flicked her ear and meowed again. Ito starred at the floor, the sobbing immediately stopping as soon as the cat was pulled away. Akira wondered if she was embarrassed. Akira could hear rustling from the other futon and turned his head to look at it. Mokuba sat up, and yawned loudly as he turned his head to face Akira.  
"Good Morning Akira." He said rather sleepily and then lazily gazed at Ito, who hadn't dared looked up from the spot she was starring.  
"Good morning girl Akira." He said just as sleepy to Ito. This seemed to have jogged the girl out of her thoughts as she bought he head up and looked at Mokuba, raising her eyebrows slightly. Akira chuckled slightly at his friend.  
"Morning, Mokuba." He said, not bothering to correct the boy about Ito.

Akira stayed silent as he looked between the two. Ito's cheeks were red from her sobbing session; she rubbed her eyes hard with the sleeves of her shirt. It was then she looked at it a bit closer.  
"This...isn't mine." She said to them, pulling at the fabric of the light blue long sleeved shirt slightly. Akira turned his attention fully to her, keeping the small smile on his face.  
"No it's mine...Your clothing was soaked you would have caught a cold so I chan-" He began saying before being promptly slapped across the face making him shut up instantly.  
"How dare you!" She shouted at him as Akira lightly touched his cheek pulling his hand away as it stung. Ito didn't seem to appreciate this, then again now that Akira thought about it he could understand why; she was a girl and while they were twins they hadn't seen each other for five years. Maybe he should try not being as friendly to her as he was all those years ago. She struck hard; he found our she punched hard but he wasn't expecting her to slap hard too. The brunette boy looked at his sister, watching her as she stood up rather hastily, keeping a glare on him.  
"Where are my clothes?" She demanded from her brother stayed quiet. She turned her attention to Mokuba, keeping the glare on him instead. "Well?" She insisted, her hands tightening into fists, fingers digging into the palm of her hands.

Mokuba just stayed still as he turned his attention to Akira now fully awake; he wasn't actually sure where Akira placed her clothes either. Akira turned his attention back to his sister, keeping himself calm despite his now throbbing cheek.  
"In the washer with everything else. It stunk of rain water." He explained to her watching her expression stay to rage. She growled in her throat, her teeth clenched. She couldn't exactly leave dressed as she was. One, it was pouring it down with rain again, two, she didn't feel comfortable borrowing the clothing, even if it was her brothers.  
"I'm going to the bathroom." She said angrily to the boys and turned on the balls of her feet to make her way there. She still remembered where that was that was good.

Akira sighed slightly once she was out of the room. He touched his cheek once more, winced and pulled his fingers back quickly. It didn't feel like it would calm down any time soon. The brunette stood up himself and stretched his arms above his head.  
"She seems nice." Mokuba said sarcastically as Akira smiled apologetically to his friend.  
"I want to know what happened. She wasn't always like this." He explained to his raven haired friend who just nodded his head.  
"Is that why you put her clothes through the wash? To keep her here longer?" Mokuba questioned as Akira's apologetic smile turned into a small smirk.  
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said faking ignorance and shrugging his shoulders. He began walking to the kitchen to do his things. Mokuba smirked back at his friend; he might have been a sweet boy but he could use that brain of his sometimes when it mattered. Mokuba stretched his arms out in front of him. As he was about to get up he felt a lump of a weight in his lap followed by purring, and then claws into his thigh. Looks like he wouldn't be getting up for a while.

Ito starred at herself in the bathroom mirror. She cursed to herself inside her mind, gripping the edge of the sink as she starred deeply at the reflection. Five years she had been away from her twin. She thought she'd never see him again. She took a deep breath through her nose as she examined the clothing her brother lent her. Light blue long sleeved shirt that was baggy on her and baggy jogging trousers. They were stretchy around the waist and even then they felt a bit too snug for comfort. Her brother certainly was a stick. She could only assume it was because his health was deteriorating.

The girl took another deep breath calming herself down as she starred at the reflection again. Her head began aching as she felt a nagging like sensation deep in the back of her mind. She couldn't stay here for too long . She would have to return to the other soon. She wondered if she could ever tell Akira what had happened. The hive mind collective she had found herself being bought into all those years ago, and what happened when you were away for too long. She was never truly alone. Always followed by someone else known as a "messenger." It was these peoples jobs to make sure people like her were kept in line and didn't break away from the hive mind. Breaking from the hive mind caused the person great pain, the longer they stayed away the more painful it got until they tried to destroy themselves. It was like a fail safe; whatever they were using to do it. Ito could feel she was spending too long away, the nagging hurt her head. She opened the tap, cupped her hands and splashed the water into her face; rubbing hard to at least make herself feel somewhat refreshed.

Ito exited the bathroom and began to make her way for the stairs again. She could hear chatting between the two boys making her stop in her tracks. Silently, she crouched down, sitting on her legs as she peered through the banners of the stairs that loomed over the kitchen. Her brother was making breakfast however the other one was not in the same room.  
"You can just move Podge from your lap if she's putting your legs to sleep." Akira commented, a small chuckle in his voice. Ito took note of the red mark on his cheek, it looked like it stung. She frowned, she knew she struck him hard but she didn't think that hard; she regretted that. He had showed her kindness...he didn't deserve that his intentions were good.  
"I don't want her to hate me!" The other boy said from the other room, making Akira smile to himself as he placed some salmon onto three plates. She had to admit she missed it.  
"I'm sure Podge won't hate you." Akira said to him, taking off a bit of Salmon from one of the plates and calling the cat. Podge showed up a short time afterwards and greedily accepted the Salmon from Akira. Soon the black haired teenager came in and leaned his back against the wall with his arms crossed. He seemed amused at her brother giving the cat some fish.

The pair continued talking; they seemed to be very good friends at least in Ito's eyes. She wasn't sure how long they had been friends for but they seemed close to each other. She frowned once more, she wondered; if she was never taken away would she of had this friendship between the two of them as well? She missed so much growing up...it made her upset. If she could reverse time or was given the chance to she would have.  
"Breakfast is done Ito if you want to come down from the bannister." Akira called out, catching Ito off guard. She looked at her brother quickly as she placed two plates onto the table and then turned around the grab the other one. Ito blew air from her nose as she stood up and came downstairs properly. She didn't like that she was caught having basically eavesdropping on her brothers conversation but he didn't seem mad or angry about it.

Akira tried his best to make conversation with Ito over breakfast although she sat there and poked about at her food not seemingly interested. He knitted his brows together, the silence over taking the room only being broken by the hum of the tumble dryer that spun the water out of their clothes. Mokuba picked up on the silence and thought to himself before speaking up.  
"Are you into duel monsters too, Ito?" He asked a bit out of the blue but for a lack of a better conversation he couldn't think of much else. Ito stayed silent at this making the raven haired boy sigh as he went back to his rice. He enjoyed having meals at Akira's, their family meal time was quite traditional compared to his and Seto's which was a bit more on the western side.  
"What happened in five years? We thought you had died." Akira spoke, changing the air from silent to awkward; it sent chills up Mokuba's spine from the sudden change. He knew his friend wanted to know and he couldn't blame him he'd do the same if it was him and Seto. It seemed like this was the perfect time to question her.

Silence filled the air once more as Ito stayed quiet at his question. It was broken when she sighed, closing her eyes. She stopped poking about at her Salmon and instead just kept them stabbed in the side of the fish fillet, deadly still. The brunette girl sighed in defeat; the higher ups would not be pleased if she spilled...but were they here? She could only assume not, not with the nagging in the back of her skull.  
"When I "died" you never saw the body at the funeral right?" She stated simply, her eyes never leaving the plate. Akira shook his head at her statement. None of them had saw it on the day of the funeral. His parents thought it'd be better for a closed casket ceremony before the body was cremated. After all she was just a child and they believed it'd be upsetting to guests as well as him.  
"It's obvious now but I was never dead. Remember back in school, when they selected some of us to be product testers for a new drink? It was something they wanted to supply at the school but needed to see if students liked first." Ito questioned, her eyes turning to him. Akira knitted his brows together, nodding his head. This gained Mokuba's interest even more than what was already grabbed. He listened intently to her words, watching his friends reaction.  
"Those children who were selected all suffered the same fate as me. It just took a toll on me quicker. Each other of us had "died" after drinking something sweet. It made the heart stop just long enough to be declared dead and taken to the morgue." She continued, placing her chopsticks down onto the plate.

Ito took a deep breath as she paused in her story, thinking back to what had happened in that time. What she had remembered and what she had seen; it all seemed so fresh in her mind now that she was bringing it up to tell them. She felt at least Akira deserved to know what had happened; they were twins and no doubt he had suffered the most.  
"When I woke up it was the same guys who did the trials. The other kids were there too, about six of us. They told us they had plans. Big plans and needed us to do it for two reasons. One, no one will hurt a kid generally and two, if we're discovered then the shock factor should be long enough for them to get things rolling quickly." She carried one, leaning back in her chair and starring at the ceiling blankly. Akira kept his brows knitted, a frown on his face as Mokuba tried to digest the information. It sounded like something from a crime feature; but what made it chilling was that it was very much real, Ito was proof of that.  
"They want to take over the world. Each one of us is collected into a hive mind like thing. Being away for too long can break the link but the person suffers greatly from it." She said, tapping the side of her head, wincing as the taps hit the side of her skull.

"That doesn't sound possible!" Akira exclaimed, seemingly having trouble taking in the information. He starred at his sister in disbelief. It sounded too out of world for him. Ito dropped her head, looking at him from the corner of her eyes. She seemed distant, but he could tell she was also in pain; whatever was happening was affecting her.  
"I think it could be real..." Mokuba said, breaking the silence. Akira looked at him, bewilderment on his face. "A few years ago, Seto helped Yugi out. There was a lot of magic involved...I think in Ito's case it might be more magic!" Mokuba said to him, jumping to his own conclusions. Akira raised his eyebrow slightly, giving him a questioning look. The brunette was not one to believe magic; spirits yes but magic no.  
"Magic doesn't exist..." Akira said to his friend, disbelief in his voice that Mokuba would even come to such a conclusion given the serious nature of what was happening. A tale of kidnapping and manipulating! Now was no time to joke about magic. Mokuba shook his head quickly.  
"Seto had the same thoughts until he saw it for himself. He doesn't always believe now but magic is real. I think that would be the explanation for Ito's story; more so when it comes to the "away from the hive mind" kind of thing. I can't think of technology that would do that." Mokuba said to him determined to stick to "it's magic" thing. Akira sighed, his shoulders hunching up as he thought it over. Magic...It couldn't be could it? It was too absurd.

Ito remained quiet as the two boys argued among themselves. She took the opportunity to leave the table and walk over to the tumble dryer to check her clothes. They seemed to be dry by now. The two boys hadn't even noticed her getting up so no doubt they wouldn't notice her leaving to go to the bathroom. They seemed to busy trying to make the other convinced that what they believed was true. She took out the black hoodie, grey combat trousers and grey shirt then scampered her way up to the bathroom with the two boys still not taking any notice. The brunette quickly took off her brothers clothes off and tossed on her own clothes. Her feelings were mixed. She didn't know what to do; she had told them what happened and left the two now bickering downstairs. She didn't know if she wanted to stay or wanted to go...Ito knew it was probably better for her to just leave. Her head would just get worse if she didn't; she was going to get punished enough as it was.

The brunette quickly came downstairs and made her way for the porch. The two boys continued their arguing, now with Akira becoming somewhat frustrated and angry as Mokuba had brought in this spirit called "Atem" who was also connected to magic that Akira refused to believe was real. He did however not question this spirit's existence. Ito quickly shoved on her black military style boots and opened the front door, dashing out of it and disappearing into the rain.

Akira shivered as he argued with his friend, he turned to ask Ito what she thought but noticed she was gone. His eyes widened as he quickly stood up and left the table, running towards the stairs.  
"Ito are you up there!?" He yelled upstairs, hoping she would answer. Mokuba got up from the table as well and made his way to the front room quickly. The front door was wide open letting in the cold air that fell with the rain. He just starred out, feeling guilty. If he hadn't bickered with his friend then the chance for her to do a runner wouldn't have existed. The raven haired boy could hear his friend come up behind him, stopping by his side.  
"She's gone..." Akira said, his voice trailing off as Mokuba nodded his head, unsure what else to say. Akira knitted his brows together as his head dropped slightly, looking at the ground.  
"We have to help her... She said those people were planning to take over the world...we have to stop that and help Ito. Help everyone else that was included too!" Akira said, his voice raising as he seemed to grow angry. Mokuba kept quiet as he looked at his friend from the corner of his eyes. He would help Akira but there was no way they could do it alone; they would need help. Luckily for his brunette friend, Mokuba knew exactly who to ask.


	8. Tournament start!

**Darksidechick** **– I have so much surprise in store I feel like bursting! Let's hope they can**

 **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC.**

* * *

 _There was crying heard in the room. Three boys and three girls were standing in a line next to each other. The boys tried their best to keep a brave face on; it wasn't "tough" to cry after all. The girls had no problem letting the tears fall, the three of them holding each others hands as they watched the two people in black trench coats stand in front of them._

 _The children all came from the same school, they all knew each other. That was the one comfort for them right now; they weren't "alone". Sniffles and sobs filled the room, that being the only thing breaking the silence. The children had no idea where they were, why they were here...did they do something wrong? Did their parents send them here as a punishment? It made a certain brunette think. Her brother was never naughty...they couldn't be here as punishment could they? And after all it was the school that organised everything! So was the school behind it?_

" _Quit your crying and listen up!" One of the trench coated figures demanded; making the girls instantly clam up and hold each other hands tighter as they watched the figure slowly come forth from the shadows that cloaked them. It was a woman; she looked like she was in her mid twenties. Her black hair covered half her face, leaving one green eye to peer at them all. Her hands were held behind her back, almost like she was addressing military personal.  
_ " _All of you are here because we think you could be useful to us." She continued peering up the group; her eyes stopping on one of the brunette girls. It narrowed as she walked forward towards the girl, forcibly grabbing her chin to have a good look at her. The girl froze in fear, her heart pounding in her chest as she watched the woman. Grumbling, the woman let go of her chin, turning her head to her companion.  
_ " _That's a girl. We're meant to have four boys and two girls. I know Akira and Ito are identical but how can you mix them up?! She's clearly female!" The woman demanded from her team mate who calmly shuffled through his papers trying to see if there was a reason for why Ito was there.  
_ " _In our "taste tests" Ito stepped forward. She said she was worried that it would affect her brothers heart so she would take his place." He explained to her._

 _The woman growled once more, storming over to the man and snatching the clip board from him making him flinch. She was known for her anger clearly around her.  
_ " _You imbecile that's exactly why he was needed!" She yelled at him, reading over the notes. Clicking her tongue she slammed the board back into the man's chest, keeping a firm eye on him.  
_ " _No worries; we'll have to make do now it just means a slight change in strategy that's all." She said to him, turning her attention back to the children. The woman placed her hands onto her hips as she looked over them, taking in each of their appearances.  
_ " _We'll make do without our trump card. Now...where was I; ah yes!" She began saying, walking slowly in front of the line as she kept a firm eye on the children who stood in fear of her.  
_ " _The world owes us something, it's power. Those who rule the world are the most powerful beings on the planet; and what better way than to use children to get what you want?" She began saying, questioning them although not expecting an answer._

 _Ito remained quiet as the woman's words rung through her mind. If it hadn't been for her taking her brother's place in the taste test then he would be here...assuming he woke up after his "death". What did that woman mean by "Trump card". Ito frowned and knitted her brows together; in a way she kept her brother safe...but at what cost? And why were they all here...how could children help these people take over the world?_

 _Ito wanted know part of it but she knew she didn't have a choice now._

 _-x-  
_

It had been several weeks now since Ito disappeared from the house. Akira didn't dare speak about her appearance to his parents when they returned home. He didn't think they could deal with the heart ache...he didn't think they deserved the heart ache. If he was going to let them know she was alive and well; they will need to see her for themselves. That was the only way Akira could think of that would make it any better.

Mokuba had dragged Akira in the two weeks to Yugi's game shop and explained everything that was told to him. Akira didn't mind; he just never took Mokuba for a gossip. Although now that he thought about it he probably wasn't gossiping. Either way, Yugi agreed to help out with the situation of getting Ito back to him; he also took Mokuba's side that it did indeed sound like magic that was controlling her. Yugi's friends also seemed to agree that it was magic.

The situation was also explained to Seto, seeing as he was Mokuba's brother; Akira had no doubt it's eventually slip to him. Seto also agreed that it "could" be magic but didn't rule out the possibility that it was something else too. This just made Akira feel uncomfortable and out of place. He was the only one who didn't think it was magic. Akira wondered if maybe she was possessed. He wondered if maybe he could take her to a shrine and see if one of the monks could get rid of the spirit; if he could keep a hold of her long enough that was.

Still, he just hoped that maybe he would see her around. It was the beginning of the tournament now after all. He didn't know if she was a duellist or not; but he didn't mind. If they were planning to take over the world then a tournament filled with lots of people would be the best bet for them. From what Akira understood there would be people all over the world from here. Duellist of all skills, ranging from complete and utter novice like him, to reining champions like Yugi. If there was one thing all those duellists had in common was, was that they wanted a shot at Yugi's title.

Seto, even though he was running the tournament, was also participating in the tournament too. Mokuba had explained that he had a long living rivalry with Yugi and was determined to win back his King of Duel monsters title. Akira couldn't understand the hype of it but he said he'd support Seto with Mokuba either way. The older Kaiba brother was nice enough to let Akira help out with the tournament he had to repay him somehow.

What Akira was trying to work out is why did he have to hold it during the rainy season?! The duels would mostly be outside as not many places were happy opening their doors to allow duels to take part inside he could have chosen a better season, or when it had stopped at some point in mid July. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't chucking it down with rain.

Seto had explained how the tournament worked earlier in the day and that was by gaining five coloured cards; all of which must be a different colour in order to enter the finals, they also had to give up their rarest card; a stable in the tournaments Seto held it seemed. Each duellist had two different colours. The rules seemed simple enough. Akira was offered two coloured cards to participate but he declined. As generous as that was he was no strong duellist and knew he'd be kicked out instantly. Plus he'd feel bad taking part of the tournament when he was meant to be helping Mokuba with look out.

The two boys waited anxiously for the tournament to begin. Being look outs gave them perks; such as front row standing away from the crowd with the rest of the look outs who were dressed as body guards and actual body guards of Seto while he announced the tournament. Akira couldn't work out why him and Mokuba were not dressed in suits but could only assume it was because people would have guessed that they would be look outs; or at least guessed Mokuba was. Akira was there for the ride as some might say. The brunette looked through the crowd, he could spot Yugi straight off; his multi-coloured hair stood well out from the crowd. He could also spot Joey, Tea, and Tristan; those two he was introduced to when Mokuba dragged him off to the game stop to explain what had happened. He could remember briefly meeting Tea a few weeks ago when he fainted inside Kame Game. She was very nice to him and had kept an eye on him until he woke up. She was pretty; Akira would admit that. Mokuba had mentioned that her and Yugi were a couple. He thought that was sweet; they seemed like nice enough people.

"Welcome to Domino City's Duel Monster Tournament!" Seto had yelled out to the crowd through a mic that attached to an ear piece. The announcement made Akira's heart race in his chest. This was it, it was starting! He had to admit, he was excited to see what people would be playing. He didn't agree with the giving up your rarest card thing but that was not his decision to make. The rain that poured from the skies helped calm his nerves slightly but not a lot. Like Mokuba he stood with his hands behind his back watching the crowd of people.  
"Each of you participating have been given two different coloured cards. To enter the final grounds you must gain five different coloured cards. On top of that, you must give the winner your rarest card so I hope you bought you skills with you." Seto explained to the group gathered as they waited patiently for him to officially open the tournament.

As Seto went over it, Akira drifted into his own small world. Thoughts played about in his head. What if he did spot Ito here? Could he convince her to come with them and they try and find a way to help her? He could only hope that they could but even then he wasn't too sure. The brunette felt a small jab into his side making him look at the person who did it.  
"We'll be heading off soon...Are you okay?" Mokuba whispered lowly to him so that the crowd couldn't hear the two. Not that they were probably going to listen to what two teenage boys had to say. Akira nodded his head at his friends question, giving him a small smile to try and cover the small lie.  
"I'm fine; just anxious." He said to him. That was far from the truth however. He was far from fine and "just anxious." His heart pounded in his chest so much it began to hurt. This was the first tournament he had ever been up front and close to; let alone even help with. But he also dwelled on his sisters words.  
"Don't worry; if Ito shows up we'll get her. We have Yugi and the others helping too now." Mokuba said, seemingly having looked through his lie entirely and picked up on what his friend was worried about. Akira couldn't help but give an apologetic smile for the lie and turned his attention back to the crowd just as Seto was announcing the tournament open.

The crowds began dispersing to either seek sanctum from the rain or duel for the coloured cards they needed. The two younger boys walked to the group of men dressed as body guards to go over one last time where everyone was headed and where to meet up at the end of the day. They made sure their walkie talkies worked before leaving each other to their designated spots. Akira and Mokuba quickly met up with Yugi and the others. As far as Akira knew, only Yugi and Joey were duellists in their little group.  
"Where's Mai?" Mokuba asked Joey, a small smirk on his face as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets.  
"She's out duellin' people. Said she wan'ed a 'ead start." Joey replied in return, seeming not to happy with this "Mai's" decision. Mokuba looked at Akira slightly who stood with just a blank expression.  
"Mai is Joey's other half. She's also a strong duellist." Mokuba explained to his baffled friend, who hummed slightly and nodded his head.

"So, we're also looking out for Ito right?" Tea asked, turning the conversation around to focus on Akira. Akira nodded his head in agreement.  
"Yes...thank you for doing so you didn't have to." Akira said to them, giving them a thankful smile. He was glad they agreed to help even if the whole "it's magic" thing didn't sit with him. He felt an arm around his shoulders pulling him into someone.  
"Hey don't worry about it; a friend of Mokuba's is a friend of ours. We'll track your sister." Tristan said with a large grin on his face, his spare hand on his hip. Akira nodded slightly, almost stiffly. He wasn't expected to suddenly have his arm around his neck and be all "buddy buddy" with him. Akira would admit though, it was a nice feeling to have. Mokuba was his closet friend, even considered him as a brother; having different friends was nice.  
"Right so you guys have our numbers. Ito looks like Akira, but with longer hair and obviously a girl. Give us a call if you spot her and we'll there right away. We don't know if she's a duellist so having the entire city to duel in instead makes it a huge advantage for us in a way as well as a disadvantage." Mokuba explained to them. If she wasn't a duellist that would be good as it would mean they didn't have to watch every duel to see if they could spot her. At the same time it was that very reason why it was a disadvantage. They would have to look harder. They agreed to meet up at around five PM to discuss if they did see anything strange and with that left their separate ways.

The two teenagers had watched multiple duels happen. People were gaining coloured cards here, there and everywhere. They even managed to catch a couple of duels between Seto and other competitors as well as Yugi and competitors. Akira could notice a difference in their play style. Seto was aggressive. He spared no time laying his opponents to waste and taking from them what was rightfully his after the match. Yugi on the other hand was much more calmer about it. He tried to guide his opponent once the duel was over and often refused taking their rarest card. Akira could only assume it was because it didn't sit well with Yugi to take such a thing.

One duel did catch their eye however. It was between a masked figure and a total novice. The mask on the mysterious figure was a mask called Hannya; it was regularly used in Noh theatre to represent a jealous female. The two teenagers stopped to watch to make sure the duel went well. This masked figure was brutal. He managed to beat his opponent in three turns. Akira didn't know if that was skill or down to luck when it came to drawing cards; either way he didn't want to find out first hand himself. The masked figure chuckled darkly to himself as his opponents life points dropped to zero, totally destroying the novice. The brunette couldn't help but knit his brows together; he had never seen anything like it not even with the duels he witness from Seto.  
"That's so cruel." Akira commented quietly to Mokuba who nodded his head although didn't seem phased with what he had seen.  
"It happens. I've never seen anything like that myself though and I thought Seto could be ruthless." Mokuba said back to him as the figure walked up to the novice who had fallen to his knees and watched the ground in pure shock. They held out their hand, demanding their coloured card and rarest monster. The novice looked at them, gingerly handing over their things. The figure looked at the card that was given to the and promptly tore it into two, dropping the pieces to the ground only upsetting the novice more.  
"Hey you can't do that!" Mokuba yelled over at the figure, making them turn their heads quickly towards the two teenage boys.

The figure remained silent as it starred at them. The novice looked like he was on the verge of bursting into tears. Akira quickly made his way to the duellist on the floor to make sure he was alright while Mokuba dealt with the cloaked figure. Akira placed his hands onto the novice's shoulders as he kneeled down next to him; he didn't seem that old maybe just starting secondary school. He seemed only twelve.  
"You can't just rip the card up like that! It's against the rules!" Mokuba shouted at the figure.  
"Nothing said anything against what I did to the card once it was mine. Once it's in my possession I can do with it what I will." The figure spoke bluntly and in an all too familiar voice. This caught Akira's attention. He drew his attention to the figure, his eyes wide in shock.  
"Ito?" He questioned, drawing the figures attention. The masked person lifted a hand to their mask and tilted it up enough to peek at Akira through the bottom. He could tell from what he could see it was Ito. The twelve year old boy remained quiet as he looked at the girl before looking back at Akira.  
"You know her?" He questioned him grabbing Akira's attention again. Akira could only nod at the boy. The boy frowned; pressing his lips together.  
"Please make her pay for ripping my card!" He said to him. Akira was a little bit taken back by this, he wasn't too sure what this boy expected him to do. He couldn't ask either as the boy had pulled himself away and got up, leaving the three behind.

Ito continued to peer at Akira as he stood up from the floor just starring at her. He heard clapping mixed with the patting of rain coming up from the right side of them and quickly looked in that direction.  
"Well done Ito." The feminine voice said as she stopped just away from the three. She looked between them, a smirk playing on her face. Her long black hair covered half her face leaving one green eye visible to look at them. Mokuba quickly walked up to Akira standing by his side and glaring at the woman. Ito stood quiet, just watching her as did Akira.  
"So...this is the brother you stood in for all those years ago. My my...even when you two are away you still look like each other." She continued saying, almost mockingly as she walked towards Ito; her heels clicking against the ground. She stood next to the brunette female who turned her attention back to the two teenage boys.  
"Leave my sister alone! Give her back!" Akira demanded only to be greeted with laughter.  
"You pathetic boy you honestly think I'm just going to hand her over just because you say so? What are you five? Absolutely pathetic." The green eyed woman commented, placing a hand onto Ito's shoulder as she kept the smirk on her face.

She looked between the two, taken note of how much they looked like each other. There was something she could see though. Ito was quiet and strong, her brother on the other hand while he did seem like the quiet type he was not strong. Not like her. The woman hummed to herself as she watched the brunette boy continue to glare at her.  
"I don't care if it's pathetic, she's my sister! I want her back you had no right to take her away from me!" Akira shouted at her angrily. Mokuba quickly glanced at his friend before looking back at the woman once more. He couldn't think of words to say that would help the situation, not while Akira was growing angry and frustrated. No, he needed to remain calm for his friend so he could help him in any way he could. The woman chuckled once more, her smirk widening at the two.  
"Alright how about I make you a deal. Meet me in one hour back here. We'll have a duel. If you win you can have your sister back, if I win you become a puppet for us." She said to him, pointing a long index finger at him. Mokuba looked a bit shocked at the proposal. He knew Akira was not a strong duelist, did this mean that woman knew too? Was she planning on taking advantage of that?  
"Akira yo-"  
"I'll do it." Akira said, cutting off Mokuba from his words. Mokuba furrowed his brows as he watched Akira, hearing the woman laugh more.  
"It's a date then. Remember one hour." She said to him, pushing Ito away. Ito had remained quiet throughout the entire encounter. It was almost like she wasn't completely there.

Akira dug his fingers into the palm of his hands. Once they were gone, Mokuba quickly stood in front of him, glaring at the brunette.  
"What is wrong with you?! Are you mad?" Mokuba questioned him. Akira frowned at his friend, knitting his brows together and shaking his head.  
"I...I just want her back." Akira began saying, dropping his head to look at the floor. "I'm not good at decision making on the spot you know that. I just...I just want my sister back, if I can get her back this way then I want to try it. I don't mind risking myself to help her." Akira said to him, his fingers continuing to dig into the palm of his hands. He could feel his finger nails beginning to pierce the skin. Mokuba sighed, his glare turning into a frown as he watched his friend. He could understand. Taking a deep breath, he sighed and patted Akira on the shoulder.  
"I want to prove I am a good big brother like I should have done five years ago. If I can redeem myself this way I want to do it." Akira continued taking Mokuba back slightly. He was not expecting that. Was Akira blaming himself for what had happened five years ago? From what Ito said, he had no way of knowing. Mokuba could only assume this is what it felt like to be a big brother, blaming yourself for something that happened to the younger sibling even though you had no control over it. He had seen that happen a few times with Seto.  
"Okay...put we'll need some advice. You said yourself you're only a novice and if Ito can can in three turns who knows what that woman can do. I'll call Yugi..." Mokuba began saying although not receiving an answer from Akira.

The brunette knew what he had to do to help his sister. He was nervous and scarred he wouldn't deny that. He could also tell though, something didn't sit right with the whole thing. That didn't matter now though, he had the chance to help his sister and get her back; he was going to grasp it and do his best to succeed.

He will prove he can protect her, like a big brother should.


	9. This is goodbye

**I'm not good at describing duels so I'm sorry if that is a bit lacklustre.  
Update: 26th August 2017 - I went through again and made some changes, such as spelling etc. When I posted this orignally it was about midnight for me.  
**

 **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC.**

* * *

They had an hour to prepare. Akira had an hour to prepare. He sighed as him and Mokuba took up residence in the local cafe, shielding themselves from the rain that poured from the skies. Akira held a cup of tea in between his hands, staring into the cup intensely. They were waiting for Yugi and the others. Mokuba had called them instead of his brother. He didn't want to bother his brother right now. While he knew Seto was supportive of finding Ito, he also knew he would not be liked very much if he disturbed him. His brother was like a double edged sword.

Mokuba watched Akira silently, nursing a cup of coffee himself. He took a sip of the hot beverage, warming himself up from the inside.  
"Staring at it won't make it hotter." Mokuba commented placing his drink down and gaining attention of the brunette. Akira looked up to him, giving him a small smile as he brought the cup up to his lips.  
"Just nervous that's all." He mumbled into the drink, taking a small sip himself as his eyes went back to watching the rain. It was oddly calming all the time they weren't out in it. Mokuba stayed still as he continued watching Akira before sighing and looking out of the window as well, seeing if he could spot Yugi.  
"That's why I called Yugi. I would call Seto but we won't be his favourite people if we disturb him." Mokuba said, turning his attention back to Akira who remained still and hummed slightly to himself.  
"You know Seto cares right? About you finding your sister? He won't admit it but he does." Mokuba commented more, making the brunette look at him slightly shocked. "He sees you just as much as a brother as I do; I mean we've been friends for five years now and have never left each others side. He hasn't told you to stop coming round so that's a positive." Mokuba said to him, making Akira knit his brows together as he kept the small smile on his face.  
"That was sudden, why bring it up now?... I'm glad don't get me wrong you two are like my brothers." Akira said to him as Mokuba shook his head, turning his attention back out to the window once more.  
"No reason...the rain just makes me think that's all." Mokuba said, making the brunette hum to himself as he turned his attention back out to the window. He was glad he knew if anything and glad Mokuba told him. The Kaiba brothers were the best none blood siblings he could ask for, even if one of them was very cold and often rude. He just put it down to character.

Yugi came into the cafe, followed by Teá, Tristan and Joey. Mokuba waved them down to their table, grabbing a couple of seats from on of the other tables so people could sit down. Joey shook his head spraying water everywhere as he walked towards the table. Tristan pulled a face at him, stepping away from the half drowned blonde.  
"You don't have to live up to your dog nickname you know." He commented taking a seat next to Akira. Joey glared at him, raising a fist the older man.  
"Wha' ya say wise guy?!" He demanded only to be scolded by Yugi. The rest sat down around the table. Yugi looked them over before turning his attention to Mokuba.  
"So what's up?" Yugi asked, turning his attention between both the boys. Akira sipped on his tea again opting to stay silent, before being kicked in the shin lightly under the table by Mokuba to explain what had happened and what he was planning to do.  
"We found Ito... I've been challenged to a duel to free her the only problem is I have no idea what I'm doing." Akira said to them, sighing at his admitting of not actually knowing. Sure Yugi and Joey had been teaching them, but this was a whole different thing. If Ito could take down an opponent in three turns, then what could that woman with the black hair do?

Teá raised her eyebrows slightly, looking at the teenager as he rubbed the sides of his cup with his index fingers. She could tell he was worried. He was a naturally worried teenager; if anything Akira reminded her a little of Yugi back when they were younger. Quiet, shy, he seemed to worry over others more than himself despite a medical condition that could have put him at risk. She placed a gentle smile on her face as she reached over, placing a hand over his wrist.  
"Don't look so glum. Yugi can remind you. You've been practising with him and getting better right?" She asked, making him look up before looking back at her hand then looking back at her. He could feel his cheeks heat up, an inappropriate moment to do so but the woman was very pretty. He nodded his head, using his free hand that wasn't being touched to cough into.  
"Yes I have." He mumbled, avoiding all eye contact as possible. Teá smiled kindly at him, not being bothered with his sudden shy nature around her. Joey quickly jogged him out of his thoughts by slapping his back as Teá withdrew her hand from his wrist.  
"Let's see ya card's den!" He said to the now startled brunette. Akira reached down in the deck holder kept on his belt and pulled out his deck, laying it in the middle of the table with the cards face showing up as if expecting it to do something. The group stayed quiet as Yugi reached over and had a look through the deck to see if any improvements or changes had been made. He smiled over at Akira, holding a Fake Trap in his other hand between his index and middle finger.  
"This is a good card." He said to him. "Let's try coming up with a strategy." He continued, making both Akira and Mokuba nod their heads in unison. That sounded like a good idea.

The hour was nearly over. Yugi had spent the time teaching Akira a possible strategy he could use to help win the duel. Akira believed he got it; he was sure he could pull it off. Mokuba looked over at the clock then looked back at the group, a serious look in his eyes. Not one that Akira saw often, but when he did he knew he meant business.  
"It's almost time; we should go now." He said to him, making Akira nod his head and put the deck back into the deck holder.  
"We'll come and watch; cheer you on from the side lines." Teá said to him as the other three men nodded their heads agreeing. Akira smiled at them, he was grateful they would do that for him; they didn't have to it did mean they would be standing out in the rain and possibly catching a cold. They didn't have to do that for him. The group stood up, and began exiting the cafe, heading towards their destination. Akira could feel in the pit of his stomach, he was getting nervous again. It was then he also remembered he didn't have a duel disk; maybe that would hold off the duel for a little while? No...he couldn't wish for things like that he had a bargain to uphold and a sister to get back. He had to do this.

They arrived at the agreed street for their duel. The same street Akira and Mokuba had seen Ito battle for child. Ito had been there when Akira's group got there, behind her was two people. The mask on her face sat to the side, allowing her face to be seen and covering one ear. Akira wondered why they wore those masks...was it to keep their identities safe? That would make sense all things considering.  
"You have arrived how lovely!" The lady with the black hair said as she stood slightly in front of Ito. Her hair clung to her face, soaked from the rain water. Her other eye was visible thanks to this. Akira for whatever reason was taken back, they were both green! He assumed that because she hid one eye they'd be different colours. That'd learn him for assuming. The woman kept a smirk on her face as she watched the group, her hands on her hips as she eyed them all up.  
"But alas! I will not be duelling you anymore I have other things to attend...you'll be duelling her messenger instead, Satoshi." The woman said as the other figure stepped forward. From the name Akira could tell it was a boy...the name also sounded familiar. He too wore a mask, just like Ito's was it covered his face. It was red in colour and bore the same demon face.  
"It's been a long time...Akira." Satoshi said from behind the mask, never daring raising it to show his face. Akira knitted his brows together; he had a strong idea who it was. Satoshi was one of the boys chosen all those years ago with his sister... that too meant he had "died." Akira dare didn't say a word however to him. Instead he looked back at the woman.  
"At least say your name. We know everyone...everyone but you." Akira said to her, doing his best to put on his brave face. The woman chuckled as she de-attached the duel disk from her arm and chucked it over to Akira making him panic as he caught it.  
"Silver...that's it. Not really a name but good enough for you." She said to him before looking over to Satoshi. "You know the rules. He wins and lovely Ito here is free. He loses and his mind is trapped...show them what magic can do." She said to him, turning on her heels and leaving the scene promptly.

Akira placed the duel disk onto his arm, if now was a good time to roll his eyes he would have; magic. He frowned as he did his best to work out how the contraption worked. He had never used one before, this was the first time. He wasn't sure what exactly to expect. He placed his deck into the deck holder and watched as the LED showed his life points. The brunette's eyes widened, that was some clever technology right there! He looked back over at Satoshi, who seemed to be mumbling to himself. It was then Akira could feel the air around him getting tighter, choking even. He felt his knees shake as he doubled over, placing his hands onto his thighs and taking deep breathes.  
"The shadow realm...but how?!" Yugi demanded as the purple like haze covered them, completely blocking them from view of everyone else. Satoshi didn't even dare look at Yugi as he held out his duel disk, allowing it to clip into it's ready state.  
"Magic is a powerful thing...you of all people should know that. With enough practice, anything can happen." He said to him in a monotone voice. "Stand up Akira and duel me. You want to save your sister right?" He questioned, watching the weaker boy struggle to catch his breathe. He knew he was weak but just how weak? Akira took a deep breathe as he pushed himself off his thighs, stumbling slightly before gaining his footing once more. He held a determined look on his face. His lungs felt like they were being crushed, he could hardly breathe. But he needed to do this. Copying Satoshi, Akira held out his arm, allowing the duel disk to clip into ready. He had to admit it did amaze him.  
"All or nothing." Satoshi said simply to him as he flipped a coin into the air. "Heads or tails?" He questioned the brunette who raised his eyes at the question.  
"Akira you don't have to do this, let me take over I can withstand this realm!" Yugi yelled over to the boy, noticing his struggle to stay upright, or even breath. It was the same feeling Yugi had when he first played in the shadow realm. Akira however ignored the duel coloured haired man's shouts to him. He couldn't pass this to someone else; he had to do it.  
"Heads?" Akira said to him unsure if that was the right choice.  
"Too bad for you; I go first." Satoshi said, showing the coin had landed on tails. Akira frowned, he knew Satoshi wouldn't be able to attack on the first go...that would have to be his saving grace for now.

The duel raged on. Akira had felt the full force of the shadow realm on Satoshi's second go. The attacks were real. It knocked the wind out of him having his monster destroyed and losing life points. He panicked and placed his Blackland Fire Dragon [1500/800] into attack mode instead of defensive and that cost him his life points. They stuck true to their word, it felt like the life was draining out of him. Akira bit his bottom lip as he looked at his hand. He had Silver Fang [1200/800], Fake Trap, Dragon's Rebirth and an Ancient Dragon [2800/2100] in his hand. On the field, all he had was Mirror Force face down and a Harpie Girl [500/500] in defence mode that Satoshi couldn't destroy as he only had one monster on the field and that was used to destroy his first Silver Fang [1200/800]. Akira knitted his brows together; he had to risk it.  
"I place one card face down, and a monster card face down in defence position." Akira said to Satoshi, laying down his Dragon's rebirth trap card and Silver Fang [1200/800]. The humming of the cards being played sounded through the air as Akira sighed to himself.  
"I end my turn..." Akira said to him, frowning widely. He only had one thousand life points left while Satoshi had two thousand five hundred... Akira had to believe he could turn the duel around.  
"I knew you were a weak duellist, but I didn't think this weak that's a pity." Satoshi said in his monotone, robotic voice as he drew a card.

Mokuba and the others had remained quiet as they watched Akira. They shouted words of encouragement to keep his spirits up, but could see he was faltering. Mokuba could see the shake in his legs and body. Akira was putting in his all to stay strong through this duel, and endure the shadow realm for his sister. The raven haired boy looked over to Ito, who stood emotionless and still right in the middle of the sidelines. She only moved to look at the player whose turn it was. Mokuba frowned, he hoped Akira won for her sake. He knew he loved his sister.  
"I play change of heart to take control of your Harpie girl [500/500]. I play a second one to take control of your face down monster." Satoshi said, making Akira's eyes go wide as he watched his cards go over to Satoshi's side of the field.  
"Next I sacrifice my three monsters to tribute summon Beast King Barbaros [3000/1200] in attack mode; he was tribute summoned...all your cards on your side of the field are destroyed." Satoshi said, making Akira's eyes go wider as he watched his two trap cards split into thousand of pieces. He had nothing.  
"You lose...Attack Beast King!" Satoshi said, pointing his finger at Akira.

The others gasped and began shouting to Akira, telling him to move. Mokuba did the same and looked over at Ito; she looked at Akira with wide eyes, her body slowly beginning to move towards him. Mokuba couldn't sit still he knew he had to do something...anything or Akira would lose and Ito will be gone! But what... There was no time to think straight it was all happening to fast, all happening at once.

Akira eyed the lance Beast King Barbaros [3000/1200] held as he charged towards him. He felt weak. The shadow realm was taking it's toll on his body. He wasn't sure how much longer he could last. The attacks were real after all. He took a deep breathe of air, preparing himself for the worse as the lance was launched towards his body to attack his life points directly. Instinctively Akira placed his arms in front of his head, hoping in some way that would stop the attack from hitting him.  
"Akira!" He heard two people yell, feeling his body being tackled into. He quickly glanced down at the brunette who had placed herself in front of him preparing to take the force of the attack. He quickly grabbed her shoulders trying to pry her off of him before being tackled once more from the other side. He saw the familiar raven hair preparing himself to take the brunt of the attack before looking back at the spear his eyes wide as it made an impact; sending the three teens to the floor, their screams filling the air as it pierced their flesh. It all felt so real!

Like that, they were out cold.

 _-x-_

 _Akira's eyes slowly fluttered open as he groaned. He sat up, a hand on his forehead. Surprisingly, he felt no pain. In fact, he felt incredibly light. He never felt better! He felt refreshed. As if he just had the best nap in his life. He took in the scenery around him. A field. He recognised this field. But why was he here? Did he fall asleep or even unconscious during the duel? He felt too light to be unconscious._

 _The brunette sighed as he heard more groaning, forcing him to turn his head towards the sounds. His eyebrows rose as he saw Mokuba and Ito pushing themselves up. Mokuba sat up, he's knees bent and leaning onto the back of his hands as Ito sat on her bottom, her hands on her thighs. She held her eyes closed as if expecting something.  
_ " _Are...you both okay?" Akira questioned the two making them snap their heads towards him. Ito opened her eyes quickly, a wide smile coming onto her face as she looked at her brother. He looked okay!  
_ " _We're fine but what about you?!" Mokuba asked him, gaining Akira's full attention. Akira couldn't help but smile at him.  
_ " _I'm great...better than great actually I feel fantastic." He said to him, pushing himself up from off the floor and patting off his backside, freeing it from lose grass and dirt._

 _Mokuba sighed in relief as he stood up, offering a hand to Ito. Ito hesitantly looked at his hand, before sighing and grabbing it; feeling herself being pulled up. She looked around, taking a few steps forward to stand next to Akira as Mokuba did the same standing to his other side. The three teenagers gapped at the field; it smelt fresh, there was a slight breeze. It was relaxing.  
_ " _Where are we?" Ito muttered, loud enough for the two of them. Mokuba shrugged his shoulders as Akira shook his head. While he visited this place when passed out, he didn't actually know where this place was. Humming, the female breathed air through out her nose, accepting the answer from the boys.  
_ " _Wherever we are, I like it." Ito said, holding her hands behind her back. Akira couldn't help but smile to himself nodding his head agreeing with the younger girl.  
_ " _It's calm here." Mokuba commented, thinking of nothing else to say._

 _As the teens stared, Ito and Mokuba could feel a pulling sensation at the back of their minds. It wasn't huge now, they could ignore it. Ito looked up at her brother, watching him closely. He seemed at peace here; the most peaceful she had seen him since finding him again.  
_ " _I think... the duel you're doing is still happening." Ito said quietly, gaining her brothers attention. He looked at her and smiled at her, loosely hanging an arm around her neck and pulling her close to him. He just wanted a hug, that was all. She was real. He could confirm it now. Ito stayed quiet, wrapping her arms around her brothers body. Mokuba watched the two silently before being forcibly bought into the hug by Akira; an arm around his shoulder. Mokuba swung an arm around his shoulder and placed his other arm around the back of Ito's back, the three of them forming a circle.  
_ " _I'm glad we managed to find you again; and I wanted to thank you Mokuba for helping...for being there actually." Akira said to him, keeping the wide smile on his face. Ito remained quiet, keeping her head underneath her brothers arm. She missed this. And with Mokuba there...if Akira won...could they all be friends?_

 _A door began forming, gaining the teens attention. It was brown in colour, almost like it was made of Oak. The three didn't dare let go of each other, until Mokuba sighed to himself, eyeing the door.  
_ " _I think that maybe our quo to leave." He commented, making the teenagers let go of each other. Mokuba walked to the door hesitantly, and gingerly placed his hand onto the golden door knob, turning it. A bright light poured into the field, but not bright enough to blind them. Ito began walking towards it with Akira following behind. Just as the brunette male got close, a force had stopped him. Ito turned her attention to Akira, noticing he had stopped.  
_ " _Aki?" She questioned, making Mokuba turn his attention towards his friend. Akira reached out a hand, feeling the force strike at it and making him pull back immediately. The brunette knitted his brows, giving an apologetic smile._

 _Now he remembered this place. He was here before, when he fell unconscious at Kame Game. That figure that stood here before telling him "It wasn't quite his time" last time. She wasn't here this time and now, it didn't seem like he would be leaving._

 _He took a deep breath through his nose, before looking at the other two, the apologetic smile never leaving, the apologetic look never leaving. Ito furrowed her brows as Mokuba looked at him questionably.  
_ " _I think this is it for me." He began saying to the two. "My body isn't going to let me come back. I won't be joining you..." Akira said to the two. He could feel tears gathering in the corner of his eyes, his hands that hung loosely by his sides trembled slightly. Ito tried reaching her hand out to grab him only to be struck with the same force that was stopping Akira. His head dropped to the floor as that small, apologetic smile stayed on his face.  
_ " _I think I'll just rest now. I hope I won! At least you'll be free, Ito." Akira explained bringing his head back up, choking back his words as he spoke. He didn't win, he knew he didn't he had nothing that could save him...still...he could only hope, right? He turned his attention to Mokuba, who stood in shock just staring at his friend. He had the look of denial on his face.  
_ " _I trust you Mokuba...You are my best friend, a brother really so thank you. Please...look after Ito. I think you two can become great friends." Akira explained to him, feeling the wind that was only just a breeze picking up. Mokuba released the door handle and tried running to him along with Ito, only to be pushed back by a force of wind knocking them both through the Oak door._

 _The last thing Akira heard from both of them was them screaming his name. As the door closed, Akira kept the apologetic smile on his face, pocketing his hands into his jeans pockets.  
_ " _Take care of each other, Ito, Mokuba. I know you will." He said, watching the door fade, slowly being replaced by the figure that stood before. Akira could feel the tears he had been holding back roll down his cheeks, his throat tightening as he pressed his lips together hard. There was one more question he needed to know, rather or not he got an answer...he just had to ask.  
_

" _Am I...a good big brother?"_

 _-x-_

"They're coming too!" Tristan's voice yelled as bodies began to stir. Mokuba was the first to wake up fully, his head pounding like he had just been hit with a ton of bricks. The rain poured onto his body, only adding to the ache. He groaned as he lifted himself up. He had heard of shadow games, even witnessed them but he didn't think they'd be so painful. Ito was the second to stir, her own groans filling the street as she pushed herself up to sit up straight.  
"Where...were we?" She questioned as she blinked away the small amount of water that had gathered in her eyes. The lance they were hit with was painful...is that the pain she was inflicting whenever the messengers forced them to begin a shadow game? And that field, it felt relaxing to be in. Whatever held Ito's mind hostage seemed to have disappeared when they entered that field, just before even! She could remember feeling something snap as she watched her brother try and protect himself from Satoshi's attack. Did that mean she was free? What did Akira mean when he said "He wouldn't be joining them?" That's when it hit her. The words he said, alarm bells starting ringing in her head she knew now exactly what he had meant.

Ito looked down at her brother. He was yet to wake up. He laid motionless, his eyes closed and arm's sprawled out in front of him. She began shaking him lightly trying to wake him up as Mokuba sat himself up properly.  
"Aki...Wake up." Ito asked as she shook his shoulder. She didn't get a response back however. Her brows knitted together to as she tried again but this time more aggressively in hopes of waking up her brother. Mokuba's eyes widened as the words Akira had said earlier rang again in his mind.  
"He can't be..." Mokuba muttered as he shuffled himself closer to the brunette, watching as his sister tried to get him to wake up. Ito's eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hands, releasing her brothers shoulder and shaking her head in denial.  
"We need help! An Ambulance! Seto! Anyone that can help!" Mokuba called out to Yugi and the others. Tristan and Joey nodded their heads and quickly ran down either end of the street's in search for somebody while Yugi promptly took out his mobile to call an emergency service.

"He can't be gone...It's just a joke right? A really odd joke that's all!" Ito said through her hands, her voice cracking, closing her eyes tightly as tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked over to the person who had caused it; the messenger that took Silver's place in the duel. He's duel disk was closed together.  
"Bring him back, Satoshi!" Ito yelled over to the boy, who could do nothing but shake his head. He couldn't do anything now, he knew Akira was weak but he didn't think the attack would end him.  
"I've freed your mind from the hive, Ito. Please, consider it my condolences. Don't let the chance go to waste." Satoshi said in a monotone like voice as he turned on his heel, only to see the incoming force of Tristan stop in front of him. Tristan grabbed him by the collar of his trench coat, lifting him off the ground. His face red from running and anger.  
"Where do you think you're going?!" He yelled at him, making Tea to come over to the two boys to stop any sort of fist fight that would break out. Satoshi however did not retaliate. He knew he did wrong; the way Ito spoke of her brother when the two of them grew up and trained in that facility he knew he would never be forgiven.

Mokuba just stared at his friend, gingerly removing the duel disk that was proved and his deck in the deck holder. Yugi had walked over as the commotion happened and kneeled beside Ito, putting an arm around her shoulders gently as a way of comfort. He turned his attention to Mokuba, who could only remain quiet and stare, a tight grip on his deck as if hoping he could feel him in it.  
"I've called an ambulance, they'll be here soon. I've also called Kaiba...he'll be here soon too... I'm sorry Mokuba, Ito." Yugi spoke calmly to the two. Mokuba kept quiet, his eyes wide in belief as he stared at his friend, as if willing him to wake up. Tears fell from his eyes as he just slowly reaching out a hand just to touch him. Ito went back to grabbing the sides of Akira's hoodie, her head bowed down as she hunched over letting out a mournful sounding scream. After five years of being away from her brother, she finally got to be with him again and that was short lived. And Mokuba, he had lost his best friend, a brother, all because he wanted to try and prove he could be a good big brother. That's what hurt Mokuba the most, he was older than Akira; he wondered if maybe he should have used that same excuse to keep him safe then none of this would have happened.


	10. Guilt and apologies

**I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC.**

* * *

The ambulance had come for Akira as well as police. The police arrested Satoshi and took witness statements from Yugi, Teá, Tristan and Joey. They tried taking them from Mokuba and Ito; but the two of them were frozen. They couldn't speak. They just stared at Akira until the paramedics came to take away his body. They had to pry their hands off him, Mokuba was easier to pry off with his hand just resting on his shoulder hoping he would wake up. Ito sobbed loudly as her hands were pried off, she grew hysterical as she held her head in her hands, clenching at her hair and doubling over. Screaming and sobbing, filling the streets. It was mournful.

Mokuba felt empty as he stayed sitting on his knees on the ground, letting the rain pour over him. He was numb but not from the cold. He had never felt emotional pain this bad in his life; not one he could remember anyway. The tears continued to fall down his cheeks, mixing with the rain. Unlike Ito, who was hysterical, he couldn't utter a sound.

Seto quickly came running towards them having heard what happened and the state it had left his brother. He was worried for the younger Kaiba. He was the more cheerful of the two, full of life, full of hopes, laughter, joy, something Seto did not express. He wanted to keep his brother like that but after learning what had happened with Akira; he feared his brother would go off the deep end and shut down entirely. Seto stood frozen for a split second before looking over at Yugi and the others. Yugi had explained briefly on the phone what had happened. Even Seto couldn't deny he was saddened by the news. He was not as close to Akira as his brother but he still saw him as his brother even if he wouldn't admit it; nor show it...it was too late now.

The older Kaiba quickly went to Mokuba's side, kneeling in front of him, placing his hands onto his shoulders to try and grab his attention. Mokuba however just continued to stare, completely ignoring his brothers presence as he listened to Ito's screams.  
"Mokuba...say something." Seto demanded from his brother who had dropped his head by now. His hand gripped Akira's deck as he pushed himself, shrugging off his brothers hands from his shoulders. He slowly walked towards Ito standing in front of her, staring down at her.  
"You..." Mokuba began saying gaining Ito's attention, forcing her to look up at him, her vision blurred, eyes puffy, face red. She had cried hard and none-stop once she figured out it was not a joke.  
"You... it's because of you his gone." The teen muttered at her, his voice breaking as his lungs struggled to in take air from his anger. Her eyes went wide as she listened to his words.  
"Mokuba... no one's to blame..." Yugi said to him gently and as sympathetically as he could, although it seemed like his words had fallen onto deaf ears. Ito scrunched up her face as she looked up to Mokuba, just watching him stand over her, a mixture of sorrow, anger, guilt mixing into his face. He was finding it hard to control his emotions that much was obvious.  
"If you hadn't shown up again Akira would still be here! But you decided to show up, do you know how much it hurt him?!" Mokuba yelled at her losing all control of whatever composer he had left.

Seto quietly stood up behind Mokuba, he couldn't bring himself to glare at his brother and could understand why he felt hurt and most likely betrayed; but he did not agree on him yelling at Akira's sister who was just as upset and broken as he was feeling right now. Ito opened her mouth to speak however she was quickly shut down by Mokuba once more.  
"He was determined to find you again! And as soon as you were found you treated him like dirt! He loved you so much and you showed nothing until now! What's wrong with you?! Why didn't you show up earlier or not at all?! Why couldn't you have stayed hidden?! He was happy! He would still be alive!" Mokuba yelled at her more, making the girl flinch at his words and drop her head, her eyes shut tightly. She didn't have answers...at least not right now. They couldn't come to her head right now, she wanted to answer so badly. She wanted to explain everything so badly, but the grief wouldn't let her.  
"Answer me!" Mokuba yelled once more, pulling the girl up from the floor and onto her feet. Ito knitted her brows together, she knew in the back of her mind to expect something like this; but the feeling still hurt. Mokuba kept a tight grip on her arms until Seto intervened and pulled away his hands.  
"That's enough Mokuba. No one is to blame. Calm down." Seto said as calmly as he could while his brother continued to glare at the brunette who kept her eyes shut tightly and hands wrapped around her body holding where she was grabbed.

Mokuba pressed his lips tightly together once more, gritting his teeth as he dropped back down to his knees; his hands flat on the floor staring at the ground. She looked so much like him, it hurt to yell at her. It was almost like he was yelling at Akira...he felt more guilt than ever as he came to the realisation that he had already denied Akira's words back in that field to look after Ito. While he did not say he would, he couldn't not do it. Akira was his best friend, his brother; he couldn't betray him like this. He was just so angry, guild filled, upset; so many emotions filled his head he didn't know where to place himself and Ito...Ito... She was his twin, she must be feeling the same if not more.  
"I...know I'm to blame." She choked out, refusing to look at him as she kept her eyes shut tightly and head down. She couldn't say anything more...she didn't know what to say. Sorry wasn't going to change anything, she felt terrible. Everything she had done...if she knew it'd be the last she wouldn't have done any of it.

Yugi quickly looked at Teá who seemed to be a lost to what they could do. She briefly looked to Yugi, her brows knitted.  
"Maybe we should let Ito stay with us for a while." Teá muttered to him, making Yugi nod his head in agreement. It didn't sound like a bad idea, and from what Mokuba and Akira explained a few weeks ago it didn't sound like she would have anywhere to stay now.  
"I'll take Mokuba back now... Ito is staying with us." Seto said, pulling Mokuba off the floor by his arm. It wasn't like he was going to put up a fight now. Yugi looked at Seto surprised, his eyebrows raised.  
"Is that wise? We can put her up." Yugi said to Seto who looked over at the limo that was pulling up. Seto gently pushed Mokuba in that direction, sending the raven haired boy to the dry at least. The older Kaiba looked back at Yugi once he saw his brother entering the limo.  
"Listen, Yugi. You have good intentions but I think it'll be good for them to stick together. She'll stay with us until something is figured out it's not up for debate." Seto said to him, gently pushing Ito over to the limo. Ito briefly looked up to him before looking back to the car unsure if she should. He nodded his head over, keeping an eye on Yugi and his friends.  
"The tournament will continue as normal in a couple of days. I'll be making an announcement. I don't want any more deaths in my tournament." He said to him, before turning on his heel and walking towards the white stretched car.

Joey huffed through his nose as he crossed his arms watching Seto climb in and the limo begin to drive away. While he would agree with the rest Seto had mellowed out since Mokuba became a teenager, he still didn't like the man. He continued to act high and mighty. The current situation didn't help, it didn't sit right with Joey or Tristan.  
"Dat jerk. Didn' he see how Mokuba acted? Dey shouldn't be around each other for a while." Joey commented as the limo disappeared into the rain. Yugi shook his head as he looked to where Akira was, spotting the duel disk. There seemed to be a few card Mokuba dropped or didn't realise was there. Yugi went over and picked them up, looking them over; they were soaked through he could dry them out at home.  
"I think I know where Kaiba is coming from. They need to heal their wounds; in a way if Mokuba and Ito stick together they can heal each other. They're both broken from this... We should give them space and let them figure everything out." He said as he stood up, walking back to the others. He still had to look up at them a little; they might have been adults now, but he was still the shortest out of them all.  
"I think Ito or Mokuba might like to keep a hold of these; they can decide if they want to return them to Akira or not." He said as he placed the cards into his own deck holder. Teá sighed, her brows still knitted together in worry. They hadn't known Ito, just met her in fact! But she couldn't help but worry over the younger twin.  
"Let's get back before we get a cold... I think I still have some of my old clothes; we should bring them to Kaiba's if I can find them at my parents." Teá said looking at Yugi or nodded his head in agreement knowing exactly why she suggested it. If Ito was going to be staying at the Kaiba household she'd need some clothes and Teá doubted that the two boys had any clothes that would fit her considering they were both quite tall and lanky.

 _-x-_

" _What are you going as for Halloween Mokuba?" The brunette asked his friend. They were fourteen years old and had been invited to a Halloween party. Seto had said Mokuba could go and they managed to convince Akira's parent's to let him go promising them he'll stay safe. The teens were at the local shopping centre, looking at the costumes; pondering what they could go as._

" _I'm not sure...maybe a vampire?" Mokuba commented, placing his hand on his chin as he held a look of concentration on his face. Akira hummed slightly as he stood beside him._

" _I think I'll go as a pirate...a vampire pirate! Vamprate?" Akira said, growing more and more confused with what he should actually go as he finally came to "Vamprate." Mokuba looked at him, doing his best to hold back a laugh._

" _Pipire!" Mokuba blurted as if coming to a conclusion making Akira snort laugh at just the simple play on words._

" _That's a fruit!...We should go as fruit vampires!...They're called fruit bats right?" Akira suggested, the two of them not getting any closer to what they should actually dress up as. It was Mokuba's turn to snort laugh, as he lightly punched Akira's arm. Fruit bat's weren't scary; but they'd be the best fruit bats around!_

 _-x-_

Mokuba watched the rain pelt against the window of the limo as he leaned his head on the glass, his eyes half closed and mouth slightly agape. He had managed to stop his crying; he didn't feel angry any more but he still felt upset and guilty. He would need to apologise to Ito later for what he said to her. He tiredly turned his head slowly to look at Ito, who was slumped into the chair, her head also leaning against the window the same way he was. She looked out of it. Totally out of it. Mokuba turned his head back onto the window staying silent through out the journey.

Seto sat on the other side of them, his arms and legs crossed over as he glanced between both the teens. He could see the uncanny resemblance of looks between Ito and Akira. Same brown hair, same brown eyes. She was a little shorter than him. If it weren't for the fact she was a girl Seto would have mistaken her for Akira in a heartbeat. He turned his attention to Mokuba, who just continued to watch the rain water flow down the window. The limo stopped. Seto looked out of the window Mokuba was leaning his head against and could see they were at Kaiba mansion. He patted both of their shoulders gaining their attention, even though it wasn't full and looked dim. Whatever light they held in their eyes was not around right now. Seto didn't say anything as he hopped out of the limo, Mokuba following behind and then Ito.

The three of them walked into the Mansion, soaked from the rain water. The maid came and took Seto's trench coat and Mokuba's puffer jacket. Ito just had a black turtle neck number and black shorts, plus the mask that was still strapped to her face; she must have been freezing.  
"Get Ito some of Mokuba's clothes for now. I'll deal with it in a bit." He ordered to the maid, who bowed politely and quickly wondered off into the mansion. Seto turned his attention at the two broken teens, watching as Mokuba took off his shoes and Ito stand there looking lost and confused as to what to do.  
"Mokuba, Ito. I'll be in my study if you two need anything. I do not want to hear you two fighting each other." He said to them, trying to act as normal as possible although that was hard to do. Mokuba nodded his head making Seto turn his attention to Ito.  
"You're staying here; Stick with Mokuba." Seto said to her, making her look up at him slightly before nodding her head a little. She bent down as she began taking off her soaked through black combat boots. Everything was soaked through. She felt cold in more ways then one. Once she was standing she felt the mask being taken away from her face; she dared not look at whoever touched it.

Seto look at the mask, tucking it under his arm as he turned his attention to his brother, who just continued to look at the floor. His eyes half lidded, dim and sorrowful. His hands hung loosely to his sides; the deck that once belonged to Akira still held in his hands. Seto gently took a hold of it, prying them from his hands; he rarely showed emotion, or even gentleness but right now was a full exception. He would keep the deck in his study to dry it out and give it back later. Right now, they needed a distraction. The maid came up behind Seto, clearing her throat and gaining his attention. He turned his head to look at her over his shoulder.  
"I managed to find some clean trousers and a shirt that looked like it could fit her." She said to him gently as he nodded his head towards the brunette. The maid held out the clothes to her, receiving nothing more than a quick glance before she bowed her head and hunched her shoulders.

It made her think; just a few hours ago, weeks or days even, years! She was cold and emotionless, part of a hive mind that thought as one and suffered greatly for being away too long. Now...now she was her own person again but at a great, great cost. All the emotions had flooded back at one, hitting her hard emotionally. She could hear talking but didn't know what was being said and then felt her body being pulled somewhere. She quickly glanced at the person, raven coloured hair. Her brows knitted together as she was led to a bathroom and then handed the clothes once more, being ushered into the bathroom.  
"Seto said we need to stick together...so hurry up and get changed..." He spoke to her quietly through the door, struggling to keep himself in check.

Mokuba was trying his best to keep himself together. The car ride home gave him time to think. He couldn't stay angry at Ito. Up until recently, she had been part of a group called a hive mind. He thought back to the duel and what happened just before they entered that field. She had ran to him first, something sparked on her face as she looked at Akira. Fear. But before that it was blank and emotionless. That fear came out of know where... something must have happened somewhere in that duel. She tried to take the brunt of the attack the same as him. He shook his head as he leaned his back against the wall. He had to apologise, that much he told himself in the car. He also needed to be strong, make distractions for themselves. In a way prove that he didn't mean what he said and keep Akira's words.

He heard the door open and looked to the left to watch Ito come out, her soaked clothes held in her arms. She now wore a pair of his grey sweat pants and a large baggy yellow t-shirt; only that it looked like he wore for sleeping in in the winter. Mokuba nodded his head to follow him, leading the girl to the utility room so she could chuck them into the wash. Once there she gingerly placed them into the washer the silence between them growing. Mokuba kept a watch on her, his eyes darting off to the floor before looking back at her.  
"Do you like games?" He asked suddenly, making her turn her head towards him, her brows knitted in confusion. Mokuba pulled a face as he shuffled on the spot.  
"You know...like video games." He said to her, continuing to coax her onto saying something. Ito thought for a second, turning her face away in thought. She turned her head back to look at him, seemingly taken back in the first place that he asked something like that.  
"I like Harvest Moon." She told him. Come to think of it, that was about all she played when she was younger.

The pair had set up camp in the entertainment room. Mokuba had gotten changed before they settled in the entertainment room so he could prevent himself from getting a cold. He knew he had to keep them distracted if they were ever going to move on. Distractions were normally a good way to help with mourning. Mokuba knew that was what Seto had intended when he told Ito to stick with him. He had set up Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley; having made a quick purchase of the game online for a digital copy. He was meaning to get a new game anyway he just wasn't sure what, this seemed like a perfect time. Mokuba handed the controller to Ito, much to her confusion.  
"It's probably been a while since you played; I think you might like this." Mokuba said to her, giving her a small smile however forced. Ito stared at him briefly, before nodding her head giving a small forced smile back to him and turning her attention back at the screen. It was better than nothing in his mind.

Ito played around during the opening cut scenes. She was gaining a grip on how the controls worked in this version. The raven haired boy could only guess the last one she played might have been on Gamecube. Mokuba sat silently on the floor with Ito, his legs crossed, leaning his elbows onto his knees as he watched. He felt something poke his arm and quickly glanced at it, before looking at Ito who was holding out the controller to him.  
"We can take it in turns." She gently said to him although now daring to look at him. Mokuba took the controller, nodding his head as he went on to play for a while. Even though there was silence between them, he felt better knowing they were doing something. He glanced at Ito occasionally, who watched the screen with pure amazement and wonder. Wherever she was, they must have not had anything like this.

Their separate game play turned into more of a team play, Ito pointing at various things on the screen and asking Mokuba to either go there or plant something there. It seemed like she had more fun watching what was happening rather than actually playing herself. Ito had made herself more comfortable, sitting with her legs kicked out to her side and hands in her lap when she wasn't pointing at the screen.

The two teenagers were too focused on the screen and what was happening there to notice they were being watched by Seto, Yugi and Teá. Teá held a couple of bags in her hands. She kept a small smile on her face as she watched them interact; Ito pointing to the screen and Mokuba debating if he should actually do what she had asked.  
"They've calmed down, I'm glad." She commented to Seto. The older Kaiba brother nodded his head quickly as he leaned himself against the door frame, his arms crossed over one another. Yugi looked at them calmly. He kept a small smile on his face as well, knowing this will be the beginning for them to start their healing. He turned his attention to Seto, who kept a watchful eye on the teen.  
"We'll leave you be, tell Mokuba and Ito we said hello and wish them well." He said to Seto, being as friendly as ever to the cold CEO. While Yugi knew the CEO would never open up to them, he never thought of him as anything less then a friend. Seto just nodded once more.  
"Leave the bags there, I'll get someone to take them up to her room." He said to Teá, prompting her to leave the two bags of clothes against the wall. There was a mixture of jumpers, shorts, skirts, jeans, all sorts. It would be enough to tie Ito over for a while until she had some of her own; not that Teá was expecting them back. They didn't fit her anymore anyway she had matured a bit more since her teenage years. The two waved their goodbyes and left the Kaiba household.

Several hours had passed by since they began playing Harvest Moon. Mokuba placed the controller down and stretched his arms above his head, grabbing a hold of his arm and pulling it slightly over the top of him. He stretched out his back after having being slumped for so long. Ito stretched her arms and legs out in front of her, hunching her shoulders and curving her back as she leaned forward. She sighed slightly to herself and turned her attention to the raven haired boy. She watched him slightly, taking small notes about him. He was tall, very much like that brunette man; he was only a little bit shorter. His hair was incredibly long and messy. His skin had some colour, more than that brunette man's anyway. He was of a slender build with some muscle on his arms, Ito could only assume that was normal for teenage boys.

He noticed her staring and quickly looked at her, an look of questioning on his face. Ito continued however, before moving her eyes back to the screen, staring at that instead.  
"I'm still sorry...for what happened." Ito said to him, quite literally out of know where. Mokuba knitted his brows together as he shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak again but was cute off by the brunette once more.  
"You were right, he might still be here if I didn't show up...I'm so sorry." She said to him, her eyes staying fixated on the screen. He could tell that it looked like she wanted to cry again, break down. The guilt must have been over whelming for her as well. Mokuba shuffled himself closer to her, moving the controller away from the two. He watched her, hesitatingly placing an arm around her shoulders, bringing her close to him.  
"I wasn't right. What I said wasn't right. I shouldn't have said it. It's not your fault, don't blame yourself. If anything I should be sorry and I really am." Mokuba said to her calmly. He felt her move a little under his arm, feeling her lean her forehead as best as she could on his shoulder. Mokuba gently rubbed her arm sympathetically. This was fine. It was best to get everything out of their system. He took a deep breath just letting her stay there.

She wasn't so bad. He had said he was sorry and meant it. Maybe now...just maybe, they could help each other move on. Maybe they could become friends; while he doubted they'd ever be as close as him and Akira was sure going to put effort into their friendship. He had to keep his friend's word, look out for Ito. That was what he exactly planned to do from now on.

The teenanger felt her shuffle once more, and glanced down quickly at her from under his arm as she pulled her head away from his shoulder and looked up at him, giving an apologetic look to him.  
"Sorry...I got your shirt wet." She said to him making him quickly glance at the shirt and then shake his head.  
"It's fine I wouldn't worry. It's just water." He said to her looking up at the clock. The time was close to ten in the evening. They had been playing for a long while. They weren't called for dinner as far as Mokuba knew and if they were they certainly didn't notice. Mokuba looked at the brunette.  
"Let's get some dinner, I'm starving." He said to her making her nod her head in agreement. Mokuba removed his arm from her shoulders, gently patting one of he dropped his hand away from it. The two stood up and exited the entertainment room, leaving the console to continue running with the game still active. As far as they knew nothing drastic would happen if they left the game unattended for a while.

Mokuba quickly thought to himself and turned his attention to Ito. The girl looked at him as he begun to speak.  
"We need to find your room too. I don't think Seto would be too happy if you shared my room." Mokuba said to her attempting to make a joke. Ito however didn't get it, and instead tilted her head slightly as the joke went right over her head. He just shook his head, it wasn't a very clever joke...nor very funny now that he thought about it.  
"Nevermind...lets get some food first and then find your room." Mokuba said to her, a small smile appearing on his face. Ito nodded her head and went back to following Mokuba closely again through the mansion.

She took a good look at it, it was huge! There seemed to be many corridors and many rooms. She couldn't help but wonder, what was in those rooms? Were they all entertainment rooms? Maybe they were dungeons! No...Mokuba seemed far too nice to live in a place with dungeons. Maybe they were filled with things not meant to be witnessed by humans! So many thoughts flooded her mind as her eyes darted around the place frantically. She began counting on her fingers how many doors she passed following Mokuba, beginning to feel overwhelmed by the place. It was then she accidentally walked straight into his back as he had stopped; her hand getting caught up between her chest and his back. Mokuba turned his head slightly to her, checking she was okay as she backed off from him.  
"This place is huge!" She said to him in surprise. He couldn't help but chuckle at her surprise and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders as he wondered over to the fridge.  
"Well it is a mansion. You'll find your way through it." He said to her, opening the fridge.

The humming of the appliance filled the room as the light shined on his face. There was two plates in there, Seto must have eaten earlier. Mokuba took out the plates and walked over to the other counter, the fridge door gently closing as he began taking off the plastic wrap. Now that he thought about it, since he had gotten older him and Seto spent less time as a family together. That was partly his fault; he didn't want to be around Seto all the time now that he was seventeen, he stopped with that attitude once he was thirteen. Still, sitting down together for a meal would probably be nice sometimes. It did get lonely eating by himself.

But Ito was here now. That was a good thing really it meant the two teens could keep each other company. He smiled gently to himself as he placed the second plate in the microwave. Ito had looked around the kitchen at all the different things. Spices and herbs in a spice rack all neatly lined up. Cooking equipment hung from hooks on the wall. Everything was well organised in this kitchen... in this house in general!

It made Ito think...would she enjoy staying here? There was only one way to find out really. There was another thing on her mind too. The Hive Mind. She -needed- to take them down. Ideally alone. Ito was determined to avenge her brother and free the others. She just had to.


	11. Goodbye tournament

**Darksidechick – I think they will be, the bigger challenge will be Mokuba having to remember Akira and Ito are not the same people.**

 **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. Just the OC.**

* * *

"Hatanaka Satoshi, one of six children who had died five years ago, has turned up alive! Police arrested him two days ago during a duel monsters tournament on account of murder. This has raised questions about the other children with an investigation launching to find them. There is speculation that the other five children may also be alive." The news reporter said on the TV. The TV quickly cut to a police man. He was a greying man, his face showing his age the most. A blue bar on the bottom of the screen showed his name to be "Ota Hideki." The chef investigator for this newly revived cold case.  
"Hatanaka was very quiet when he took him into custody. It was only after registering a DNA sample to see if there was any other charges against him did he show up in our system as deceased." Hideki explained to the reporter who stood in front of him, holding a microphone to his mouth so his voice could be heard.  
"Did he say anything about the others?" The reporter holding the microphone asked Hideki.  
"He wouldn't speak of them. The only clue he's given is "Free them." We believe they are alive and possibly being held captive." Hideki said before the screen went back to the female news reporter. She stayed quiet for a few seconds until she got the signal to continue. Next to her head came up six portraits of the children who went missing.  
"Police are asking for anyone who knows anything about the children to come forward. The images of the children, names and ages of death will be shown now." She said as the screen showed the portraits bigger of the children at the age of when they all had "died."

A portrait of a girl with black hair and big brown eyes. Her hair was in high pig tails, hair falling over her shoulders as she looked at the camera with a wide smile. Her bangs covered her forehead, if anything she looked cute. Her face looked cheerful, never suspecting what would happen: Nii Hoshi, age twelve, status missing.

The one next to her was Satoshi at twelve. He also looked cheerful, the picture supplied was one taken on a school trip. His blonde hair and green eyes stood out in the photo. The freckles covering his cheeks and nose visible, as clear as day. It looked like he was unaware of the photo being taken at the time: Hatanaka Satoshi, age thirteen, status alive.

Next to him was another boy who seemed shocked to have his picture taken. He had brunette hair and blue eyes. His bangs covered his eyes a little as he looked at the camera in surprise. His hair stuck up in different places, he was holding duel monster cards in his hands. It seemed like the picture was taken on a lunch break at the school: Tsuda Ichirou, age eleven, status missing.

Underneath Hoshi's portrait was a picture of Ito. It was taken when she was helping her brother up from the ground, just before she had "died". She held a wide smile on her face. Her brunette hair matching her brother's in colour. Her hair was side parted, her bangs covering her forehead. Her brunette eyes showed complete joy, unaware of what was about to happen. The only differences between her and Akira in this photo was the uniforms, her hair was longer and she was a little shorter: Naguchi Ito, age twelve, status missing.

Next to her was a boy with black hair and green eyes. He was blind in one eye and it showed in the photo, the right one was a paler green compared to his left one. He held to fingers up to the camera showing a peace sign, a wide, toothy and cheeky grin on his face. Black, wild hair sticking out all over the place the boy regularly got into scuffles at school. Yet he was always so charming and polite, the teachers never understood how or why: Yoshioka Kiyoshi, age twelve, status missing.

The last photo was of another boy. She had red hair and grey eyes. She glared at the camera, obviously not impressed with having her photo taken by someone. Her finger tips showed in the bottom of the photo, showing that she was going to hold her hand up to block her face. Freckles covered her face. Her bangs were swept to the side, a side pony tail hanging over her shoulder and falling out of sight in the picture: Aoki Takako, aged thirteen, status missing.

The photo's soon came off the screen switching back to the female reporter who briefly looked at her papers again and then back at the camera, her calm and professional nature showing through.  
"I'll repeat the names of the children for people who have just tuned in. Nii Hoshi, Hatanaka Satoshi who is found alive, Tsuda Ichirou, Naguchi Ito, Yoshioka Kiyoshi, Aoki Takako. Please call the police if you have any information regarding these children who are truly missed."

Mokuba took a deep breathe through his nose as he stretched his arms above his head, and uncrossed his legs. It had been a couple of days since Akira's death. Mokuba had turned up at his house, in a way he was hoping he was still there; just very sick but he wasn't and he had been expecting that. Akira's and Ito's parents however were grateful for the visit, they invited him to the service knowing how close the two were, saying he was welcome to stop by any time he wanted; he'd always be welcome. They were a nice couple. Mokuba desperately wanted to tell them Ito was alive. It nagged at him to do so. But he couldn't, not right now it wouldn't be right. It'd seem like some sort of cruel joke. Most importantly, he felt it shouldn't be him who told them, it should be Ito.

Now with the news of Ito possibly being alive, as well as the other four students, maybe she could finally go to them, tell them she's alive and okay. Let them know she's not gone. It would be a light at the end of the tunnel for them. However, he didn't know how Ito would exactly go about it; it wasn't like she could show up on their door step and just announce she's there. He needed to think this through, discuss with her how to go about it.

He turned his attention to Ito. She sat on the floor with her legs either side of her, watching what was happening on screen. She wiggled her toes into her thighs and onto the carpet eyeing each five year old photo from the past. She looked sad about it, her eyes darting to each picture, taking in the details of what they looked like back then.  
"We weren't all in the same class. I remember Hoshi and Kiyoshi were in my class. Hoshi had a massive crush on Kiyoshi but she never got to tell him." Ito said rather out the blue, but never averting her eyes from the screen. Mokuba continued to watch her, his eyes showing interest in what she had to say. Ito paused briefly before continuing to talk once more, a sigh evident in her voice.  
"Ichirou...Ichirou got sick really quickly. They did something to him, took him away and we never saw him again..." Ito said rather cryptically but Mokuba could grasp what that meant. Ichirou, the youngest of the six was indeed so far the only one who was dead if Mokuba understood correctly by her tone of voice and distant look over the young boy.

The television turned off gaining both the teens attention. Ito tilted her head backwards, leaning onto her hands behind her as Mokuba turned his head over his shoulder. They spotted Seto by the door way, watching him carelessly chuck the remote onto the couch. He kept his eyes on the two teenagers as they watched him walking over to them. He crossed his arms as he stood over them, neither of the teens moving or even blinking.  
"Because of what's happened recently, I've decided to halt your role in this tournament, Mokuba." Seto said quite bluntly to his brother, earning himself a look of disbelief from the younger Kaiba. Ito looked at Mokuba a little bit surprised, she didn't know what his role was in this tournament...she didn't even realise he had one.  
"But, I've always helped!" Mokuba said to his brother, pushing himself off the floor and looking at him in surprise. Seto kept the same look however, not letting his little brother change his decision. Seto had to be tough on Mokuba in some cases as he became a teenager; this was one of them.  
"In my other tournaments people weren't killed. This is not up for debate." He told the younger Kaiba. Ito watched the bickering between the two students, her head staying upside as her eyes switched between the two. An amusing pair they both were. They were very different from one another.

Ito watched Mokuba, a small look of amusement on her face. She couldn't imagine what that would be like having not attended a proper school within five years. From the uniform she saw him wear once with Akira, he was a Domino Boys High School student; a prestige school that used to mix both genders. She wondered what happened and why the school was split, but shrugged it off for now figuring out she could ask Mokuba later.

"Ito, until recently you were part of the group that caused this. I want a full explanation tomorrow." Seto said gaining the girls attention. She looked at him again, her head dropping upside down. Awkwardly nodding, she agreed to say everything she knew to the older brother. Ito was more than willing to supply this information; she just as badly wanted to stop it now that her mind was free. She wanted to help free the others, and Satoshi...she only hoped Satoshi would be okay until he was freed. Those people did not take kindly to people who failed, which Satoshi technically did. He won the duel but freed her anyway; being a Messenger meant he had more freedom than others and that was what he chose to do with it, Ito was thankful even though the outcome was not desirable.

"While you're under my roof for the time being you will also be going to school." Seto said, gaining the two teens attention once more. Ito couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, confused at him. How was that going to work out? She could use Naguchi sure, but that might get back to her parents very quickly and as much as she wanted to tell them she needed to wait just a little while longer.  
"How is that going to work out?" Mokuba asked, equally as confused as Ito, voicing her own thoughts. Seto briefly looked at him as he leaned his shoulder against the wall, and kept his arms crossed. He crossed one leg over the ankle on the floor, the tip of his shoe staying on the ground.  
"Yugi's partner Teá has kindly agreed to letting Ito borrow her last name. In the unlikely chance I'm not around if something happens, Yugi will be." Seto said although the way Yugi and Teá rolled off his tongue seemed to be with some distaste. Ito wondered why he didn't seem to like the two; they seemed like alright people from what Ito could tell through her wails a couple of days ago.  
"Okay... Then which school?" Mokuba asked, wondering if he could catch his brother out.  
"Domino Girls High School." Seto said rather bluntly before looking back at Ito again. To Seto that answer was obvious, Mokuba on the other hand rolled his eyes and huffed to himself about his brother having such in the future plans.  
"You can pick up your uniform Monday at the school, Roland will take you in with Mokuba." Seto said and promptly turned on his heels to leave the pair alone.

Mokuba sighed to himself as he slumped back onto the ground, crossing his legs over one another and hands on his knees. Ito rocked herself back up straight again and turned herself to face Mokuba properly. It seemed like he was not happy with Seto's decision to remove him from staff help. Mokuba glanced at her, and shrugged his shoulders.  
"It can't be helped; Once Seto sets his mind on something it will happen. Just means I have to be more sneaky about it." Mokuba said, a small smirk falling on his face. Ito snickered under her breathe at him gaining his attention. He was about to say something until he looked up at the clock, and sighed in frustration.  
"I'll think of something tomorrow; School isn't until Monday but I feel tired just thinking of it." Mokuba said, pushing himself off the floor. He held out a hand to Ito to help her up, something she took gratefully.  
"You do the same, it'll be interesting tomorrow." Mokuba said to her as he pulled her up to her feet. Ito just nodded her head; she was used to not speaking often even more so under the control of the group. Mokuba however found the quietness a little bit odd, it put him on edge. Despite the fact there was nothing to worry about with Ito for now, he couldn't help but still be wary.

 _-x-_

" _Hey, Akira~." A seven year old Ito asked her older brother, prolonging the A to his name, sitting on the edge of his bed. Akira glanced at her and sat himself up, he never took his eyes off his sister. He looked at her questionably, raising his eyebrows some what. He had been sick the past few days and Ito had been kind enough to bring him his homework from school so he didn't fall behind.  
_ " _I don't understand this." Ito said, pointing to a maths formula. Akira knitted his brows together, giving her a small smile. That "falling behind" thing didn't seem to be an option as he was tutoring Ito regardless. Math's was not her strong point, her strong point was Science._

 _Akira shuffled over slightly to sit next to his sister and look over the formula. It appeared to be fractions, more importantly finding equivalent fractions.  
_ " _You just times the top number and the bottom number by the same number and that's how you get an equivalent fraction." Akira explained to her, pointing his index finger to both the bottom then top number. Ito chuckled slightly as she looked at her brother with a wide grin.  
_ " _The teacher made it hard." She said to him. Akira sighed to himself, keeping a gentle smile on his face and plopping a hand on top of her head, rubbing her head and hair gently. Ito kept the wide smile on her face from this action._

 _She loved this sign of affection from her brother, it showed he cared about her and loved her, just as much as she cared and loved him. Ito would need to remind herself however not to keep bothering him, especially while he was still sick._

 _-x-_

A bunch of people stood in Seto's office. Something Ito wouldn't have minded if the eyes weren't all on her. It was something she should have expected however, and even something she should have been used to. People were often stared at back where she was, especially when they did something wrong and needed a "gentle reminder" not to do it again. Ito kept her arms loosely by her sides as she eyed each and every one of them. Seto sat behind his desk, his fingers laced, elbows propped up on the desk. Mokuba leaned against the desk, his arms crossed over his chest. The other two, Yugi and Joey, who had demanded he be let into the building with his pal, stood in the room watching him. Ito took a deep breathe through her nose.  
"The people I was with don't have an official name but the Messenger's used to called them "The Hive Mind". They're a group of people who want to take over the world for their own reasons." Ito began saying. She paused briefly, thinking over the next part...more like remembering the next part and what they disclosed to them.  
"The duelling tournament...they're using it as a cover up." Ito said, perking the interest of the Kaiba brothers as well as Joey's. "They know Kaiba Corp. used to be a military business first creating military weapons; they are convinced that information is still lurking." Ito explained to them, her eyes jumping to each of the people in the room.

Yugi hummed briefly to himself. He placed a hand to his chin and stared at the ground, thinking over her words. Was the group so out of the loop to think that Kaiba Corp. still had that information? It was destroyed long ago as far as Yugi was aware and even if it did exist, the general public wouldn't know anything about it.  
"Didn' dat get destroy'd when you blew up dat island?" Joey asked, voicing Yugi's thoughts. All eyes fell on Seto, who nodded his head once. He kept his fingers laced and stared back at Ito, his eyes never changing from the cold stare it gave her throughout this whole afternoon. Ito didn't flinch, she was used to such things back from The Hive Mind.  
"That information is long gone your old group appear to be out of touch." Seto said to her. Yugi bought his attention back to Ito, keeping a calm expression on his face. Ito looked over to him as he dropped his hand from his chin.  
"Why did they decide to capture children? And why take this long?" Yugi asked her, the cogs in his brain trying to work out why. After all, it had been five years since they "died"; that was a mighty long time for a plan to take affect, especially one where it now sounded like it failed before it even began.  
"No one will harm a child, especially one they thought was dead." Ito started off. She kept her gaze on him, remembering exactly what Silver had said when they also questioned her. "It's a surprise. If you come face to face with someone you thought was dead the chances are you won't fight them you'll be in shock. Related or not." Ito explained to him. Yugi nodded his head, humming slightly to himself. It appeared he had accepted this answer as truth.

As the room fell silent, Ito fidgeted on the spot. She didn't know anything else to do with their plans. What she had said was everything. The brunette looked to Seto and Mokuba.  
"That's all I know, we weren't told much else. Messenger's like Satoshi knows more." Ito said to him, receiving a single nod from Seto. Mokuba sighed slightly as she stretched his arms in front of him, grunting slightly and then rolling back his shoulders.  
"I guess we'll just need to be careful and be on the look out for anyone trying to break in." He said,turning to the other two. Yugi and Joey nodded their head in agreement; it seemed like they were all on the same page at least. Mokuba turned his attention fully to Ito, keeping the calm look his brother held on his face. He was about to open his mouth to say something until his brother beat him to it.  
"I'll be placing more security around the city, you two keep in contact with each other." Seto said, making the two teens nod their head. They could at least do that, keep each other safe. With the group dismissed, Mokuba and Ito decided to head back home. Mokuba needed to get his uniform out and ready for school tomorrow and Ito needed to make sure her books and bag was in order.

-x-

"Tell me again why we were going to the boys school." Mizuki, a black haired girl with low pigtails asked.  
"I'm not repeating myself pay attention next time!" Reiko, another black haired girl had scolded, blowing air through her nose. Ito watched the two communicate silently. Her brows knitted together slightly and a small smile on her face.  
"We're teaming up for the culture festival this year." Ito explained to Mizuki, earning a rather dark look of disapproval from Reiko. She really had planned to let the poor girl suffer.

It had been a couple of weeks since Ito joined the girls school. Seto Kaiba had called off the tournament off completely after a talk with his legal team, death does not look good in a simple card game competition no matter who was hosting it. He played it safe rather than sorry. He had promised he'd re-host the tournament once things had settled in the city again.

Since the news of the missing children possibly being alive was published, the city had been up in arms about where they could be. The cold case revived and people who had given up hope had found a new light. Ito couldn't help but feel guilty. Her parents must have been worried and she was hiding it out in the Kaiba house hold until she could find the right time to come forward.

The funeral for her brother was held a week ago. Mokuba had gone to pay his respects for obvious personal reasons and also on behalf of Seto. That's what hurt her the most, she couldn't be there with her family; turning up at the funeral alive was definitely not the right time to say to her parents "I'm back." That was insensitive, cruel almost. Ito only came later once it had all died down to pay her respects to her brother, promising she'd finish whatever it was he was hoping to start. She couldn't be too sure if the goal was just to find her, or to find everyone; neither of the teens would ever know as he never disclosed it to Mokuba. She could only imagine the pain he must have felt once he saw her alive.

With the tournament now cancelled, it suddenly left Ito and Mokuba a lot of free time. They were planning to secretly roam the tournament grounds. Take the investigation into their own hands and locate the kidnappers for questioning over why they would want old information about military weaponry. But now, it was almost like the group dropped off the side of the planet. They had vanished, quite literally into thin air. It unnerved Ito, she knew they were scheming but she couldn't quite pinpoint what, when or why.

"Ito, rumour has it you know one of the boys on their committee. Is that true?" Reiko questioned as they walked through the gates of the boys school. It dragged Ito out of her thoughts, making her look at the black haired girl and nod her head showing that these "rumours" were in fact true.

Since starting, Ito had been placed onto the planning committee for the school. A way to "help her get to know people." That and no one else wanted to join and if the school wanted to do anything they needed three members at least.

Reiko smiled widely at her, knowing exactly who it could have been. It wasn't not obvious, turning up in the Kaiba limo as it was easier to drop off the pair of them at the same time than it was for one to be driven and the other to walk.  
"Close to the little brother of Seto Kaiba; that's quite an achievement." She said slyly, holding her chin between her index finger and thumb, slightly nodding her head as they arrived at the front desk. Mizuki was about to squeal with delight, until a boy walking past them raise an eyebrow at the small group, causing her to shrink and press her lips tightly together.

They explained who they were, and the kind receptionist gave them directions to the room they needed to go to. Mizuki took a deep breath through her nose as she turned her attention back to Ito, making the brunette glance at her from the corner of her eyes.  
"The little brother of Seto Kaiba, he's cute! His brother is cute too don't get me wrong but it's two different types." She started to explain, making Ito raise an eyebrow at her seemingly somewhat amused. "Seto Kaiba has that older person cute to him, being older and all. Mokuba Kaiba has that school boy cute, the one that makes you wonder how he'd act all alone with you when it's just the two of you." She continued on, her smile turning to a smirk then turning into an almost dazed wonder, clearly unaware that Reiko had long since knocked on the door to the boys planning committee room and standing rather bashfully, or more so awkwardly was the boy she was talking about.

Ito kept a small smile on her face and raised her hand, waving it slightly at the raven haired boy catching Mizuki's attention. Mizuki hummed to herself slightly and turned her head over her shoulder. A chill ran up her spine, the colour falling from her face as she quickly shoved past Ito and Reiko, her back turned to the boy while she tried to compose herself. The brunette sighed at her slightly, turning her attention to her committee member.  
"Well it serves you right for talking about someone behind their back." She said to her, knitting her brows together.

Mizuki had opted to stay outside to recompose herself. The boys had been kind enough to lend her a chair to sit on, seeing as it looked like she was having a hard time standing while the colour was drained from her features.

Ito looked around the room, her hands in her lap. It was clean and seemed quite comfortable. Everything was neatly put away and kept to a high standard that Domino High school for Boys seemed to keep. Taking a deep in take of air, Reiko turned her attention fully to the three boys who sat across from her, her own hands in her lap.  
"We're working together this year for the culture festival so there's a few things we need to go over. Which school are we holding it being the most important one, and which class's from each year will participate." Reiko said to them in a business like ton.

The blonde male nodded his head, his arms folded over his chest. He seemed scruffy, his shirt unironed and hanging out over his blue trousers. It seemed like he was in deep thought to himself but rather or not he was actually paying attention was something Ito couldn't decide. Mokuba narrowed his eyes at the male, he seemed to know that he was indeed not paying attention.  
"I think maybe the girls school, it's a reasonably new building so it'll be nice to show case it to Domino City." The boy sitting in the middle explained to Reiko. He seemed pleasant. He had very light brown hair, it was neatly combed along with his uniform that was all neat and tidy. Reiko nodded her head in agreement to this.  
"Sounds like a good idea. So now we just need classes; not all classes can participate the school just isn't big enough for that." Reiko said to them, keeping her businesslike tone of voice.

Ito decided to stay quiet, she was after all still new and still learning about the school itself; so it wasn't like her in put would make sense.

The group turned their attention to the door as it creaked open, a very nervous looking Mizuki peeking her head in and bashfully looking around. Once she spotted she raven haired male she instantly stiffened up, her face cheeks turning a rather amusing shade of red. She quickly slammed the door shut, deciding against entering the room after all. Ito sighed slightly to herself. She knew the black haired girl had a very big crush on the boy she was currently staying with, it was something she picked up on when she first joined the committee and learned they would be hosting it with the boys.

Reiko huffed annoyed with the girl and turned her attention back to the three boys. Mokuba seemed to be taking it rather, especially as now the blonde haired male had decided to pay attention and was prodding the raven haired boy with his finger, a sly smirk on his face.  
"I'm sorry about Mizuki...she's shy." Reiko apologised to Mokuba, who just waved his hand at her keeping the calm look about him.  
"It's fine don't worry." He said to her, placing his hand back down onto the desk. "Let's think of the class's and and decide a date for the next meeting." Mokuba said to the pair, urging the meeting to continue.

Ito found it amusing. He was like his brother in the sense of meetings if Sunday was anything to go by. Keep it going and straight to the point.

-x-

The teens sat in the entertainment room of the Kaiba mansion. They had been doing their homework. They left the TV on for some background noise, Mokuba had put on some sort of show called "Takeshi's challenge" and Ito for the life of her couldn't get her head round it. Still; it didn't seem to matter that she couldn't the show was still funny to occasionally glance at.

The pair sat at a Kotatsu, something Mokuba had actually bought himself after falling asleep with Akira under the one at his house; he found it surprisingly nice and had just grown used to doing his homework there from then on. Plus it made for something warm when it got cold. Since the rainy season was over, there was no need to turn on the heating function of it.

Mokuba soon learned that Ito's worse subject was Maths. Being bothered every five minutes or so had taught him that very quickly. It was only the fact that he was very good at Maths was he able to help her out. Although Mokuba couldn't work out if this was because of years of not actually attending school or if she indeed did not get the subject at had at all.

"Your committee members seem nice." Mokuba commented, catching Ito off guard. She stared at him briefly, before turning her head down to the piece of paper, watching Mokuba's hand continue to write down the way to do the equation. He had to admit, he was surprised at first when he opened the door to find Ito with the girl committee group, but he couldn't help but be grateful she was. It made sticking by her and keeping an eye on her easier.  
"They're pretty nice yeah." She agreed with him as she continued to watch. Silence fell in the room before a slight chuckle sound could be heard coming fro Mokuba, catching the brunette's attention.  
"That girl that talked about me, Mizuki right?" He asked, briefly looking at Ito who nodded her head. "Does she always gossip about boys?" He asked her, seemingly amused by the black haired girl, a sly grin on his face. Ito snorted slightly, turning her head back to the paper.  
"I'm not sure; I know she actively talks about you a lot but I think this is the first time she may have met you." Ito said to him as Mokuba slid the notebook over to Ito, placing the pen across the page to point at the equation.

She had to admit, the way Mokuba acted in the comfort of his own home and at school seemed to be different. At school he acted very professional and at his own home he was more playful; almost mischievous. Ito was still trying to get her head around the change of personalities but put it down to that fact he was representing a name and in theory, a company.

He hummed in his throat as he went back to his own homework. The raven haired boy was about to say something to Ito until a red banner popped across the screen gaining his attention. He stared at the writing scrolling past; his eyes going wide as he lightly shook Ito's shoulder gaining her attention. Ito turned her attention to him, watching his line of vision. She followed it and stared at the screen, the pen in her hand dropping to the Kotatsu, lightly clinking against the wood work.

The pair stared at disbelief at the screens, taking in the information more and more but neither wanting to believe what was being read.

Satoshi was dead.


End file.
